Florida Sport Horse Club

How many times have you found drowned squirrels, mice, rats or lizards in your water buckets or troughs?  There’s not only the “gross” factor of disposing of the remains, but I always worry about cleaning the buckets well enough to prevent any infection to my horses. We were riding recently at Shangri-La and discovered that… Continue reading Save the Varmints from Drowning!

With our sudden and very early heat wave, I’ve seen a few horses lately who have showed signs of working too hard and been completely worn out. According to Horse and Hound (http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/the-signs-of-equine-fatigue-294522), fatigue can manifest itself in a variety of ways according to discipline. Some signs to watch out for are: ➤ A slowing… Continue reading How do you know if your horse is too tired?

The best time to ride is any time you can do it!  Those who couldn’t come out today missed a wonderful ride at the Hampton Tract, as we used some trails inaccessible in wet weather.  Since there was only a few of us, we extended the ride out to 4 hours and had an absolute… Continue reading The Best Time to Ride…

Polk County requires a free special use permit for riding at Marshall Hampton Reserve, Gator Creek, and Sumica.  In the past users had to renew annually, and permits were dated from the date of request.  This process is changing slightly in 2018. For 2018:  If you currently have permits for these areas, Polk County is… Continue reading Special User Permits for Marshall Hampton, Gator Creek and Sumica

There was a notice in today’s Lakeland Ledger that the 10-year management plan for the Lake Wales Ridge State Forest is being reviewed and revised.  This area covers over 26,000 acres and is comprised on the Arbuckle, Walk-in-Water, Hesperides and Prairie tracts.  Both Arbuckle and Walk-in-Water have equestrian trails. There will be a public meeting… Continue reading Lake Wales Ridge State Forest Plan Advisory Group Meets Wednesday

This is a great time of year to consider our blessings–and I think horse people have more than most. Here in Central Florida, we have just about the best weather in the country for year-round riding.  We have wonderful trails, relatively close, that are low-cost or free.  Our club members provide a fabulous support system–buddies… Continue reading ‘Tis the Season…

Last night was the club’s annual Christmas party, which I consider one of our best non-riding events.  Mike and Barbara Charron again opened their beautiful home to us; Barbara cooked an enormous 26-pound turkey, and Donna F. baked a ham.  Not much was left of either, in spite of all the great side dishes that… Continue reading What a Great Club Party!

I had a wonderful conversation with Jeff Spence, Director of Polk County Natural Resources, this afternoon about the Panther Point trail expansion.  Here are the current facts: There are 3 separate governmental agencies involved in the project:  Polk County Natural Resources, Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the Department of Transportation. A considerable amount of… Continue reading Update on the Panther Point Expansion

We cover a lot of different things during our club meetings, and learn some interesting tidbits about our members.  Last night we discovered that when Barbara and Mike Charron met, Mike was WAY more into waterskiing than horses. He was really good with barefoot skiing and even into the pyramid formations. And that led to… Continue reading Horses and Water Skiing…Who Knew?