As a child growing up in the 1990s, I (and most other girls I knew) wanted two things: to ride horses and to be a marine biologist. As it turns out, neither of those were in the cards for me… at least not until I spent a weekend at The Equestrian Hotel in Ocala, Florida, the only AAA Four Diamond Resort in the city, where I finally got to live out my ’90s horse girl dreams.
This stunning hotel is set within the World Equestrian Center (WEC), a 378-acre facility that’s the largest of its kind in the United States. In fact, it can grow even bigger because the property has an additional 300 acres set aside for future development. As I approached the WEC for the first time, I immediately understood why people flock to the hotel, even if they don’t ride horses. Ocala is a calm, quiet city that isn’t built up like neighboring Jacksonville or Gainesville. Driving there with my mom for a mother-daughter getaway, we both rolled down the windows to take in the country air, excited to spot different types of horses.