Save the Dates: 10/26 and 10/27 for Two Events about the County’s Transfer of Development Rights Program

by Busy Shires | Oct 4, 2023 | Events, News

Join Horse Farms Forever for two events in October to discuss how Marion County’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program can help protect the Farmland Preservation Area and other rural lands in the County.

TDR Roundtable, Phase 2

Thursday, October 26th from 10AM to 12PM

Auditorium at the S.E. Livestock Pavilion

2232 NE Jacksonville Road, Ocala, FL 34470

Marion County’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program is a key component in protecting the Farmland Preservation Area (FPA) and other rural lands. In 2022, Horse Farms Forever hired Rick Pruetz, an FAICP professional planner and nationally known expert on TDR programs to evaluate the TDR program to determine why the program is underutilized. Rick compiled his research into a Draft Findings Report, which will be presented at the October 26th TDR Roundtable.

The Roundtable will be facilitated by Horse Farms Forever Founder Member Elisabeth Brinton, who is a former Corporate Vice President of Sustainability at Microsoft, and also owns a horse farm in the FPA.

The first TDR Roundtable was held on April 14th at Golden Ocala with a diverse group of 25 community stakeholders including land use attorneys, engineers, planners as well as Growth Services staff, and elected officials.

RSVP to busy.shires@horsefarmsforever.com and to receive a copy of the Draft Findings Report on Marion County’s TDR Program.

Click Here for a Summary of the First TDR Roundtable

About Southeastern Livestock Pavilion

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Ocala CEP Friday Talks

Friday, October 27th from 8:15 AM to 9:30 AM

Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership – Upstairs Douglas P. Cone Boardroom

310 SE Third Street, Ocala, FL 34471

Hear from nationally recognized expert, Rick Pruetz, FAICP and Ray Mazzie, Managing Partner, Southern Waters Capital on Marion County’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program and the recent utilization of 72 TDR credits to increase the density of a residential development by 72 units.

Friday Talks, sponsored by TD Bank, features speakers sharing their knowledge on a variety of business education and financial literacy topics. The sessions are held at the CEP in the Douglas P. Cone Boardroom beginning with networking at 8:15am. A light breakfast is served.

RSVP to Andrea@OcalaCEP.com

Learn More About the Event

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Thank You to Our 2023 Conservation Summit Sponsors!

by Horse Farms Forever | Sep 14, 2023 | Events, News

Horse Farms Forever® wants to sincerely thank all of the 2023 Conservation Summit Sponsors thus far. We are looking forward to an incredible event, and couldn’t do it without you!

Join us for a Conversation about Conservation, and hear from Carlton Ward Jr., the National Geographic Explorer and Conservation Photographer as he shares the story about how photographing the elusive and endangered Florida Panther in south Florida led to the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act and $800 million in funding for the corridor. Carlton’s quest was documented in Path of the Panther, an award-winning film produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

We will also hear from Mallory Lykes Dimmitt, CEO of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation and Traci Deen, President and CEO of Conservation Florida.

2023 Conservation Summit Sponsors

Title Sponsor

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Gold Sponsors

















	Perla Boord Paul and Ann Kaplan Dave and Ann Quanbeck Bill Kearns

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Media Partners

Special Guests

*Sponsors as of October 18th, 2023.

Are You a Sponsor? Register Yourselves & Guests Here!

Register for the Summit Today!

There are still 2023 Conservation Summit Sponsorship Opportunities Available!

Learn More About Sponsoring the 2023 Conservation Summit

Come meet our special guests, the Gentle Carousel Miniature Horses!

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association Joins HFF as a Founding Member

by Busy Shires | Sep 4, 2023 | News

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association is a not-for-profit association with the mission of promoting the Florida Thoroughbred worldwide. Since 1945, FTBOA has represented the Thoroughbred industry legislatively, serves as the breed registrar, and administers lucrative awards programs and incentives for Florida-Bred racehorses.

The FTBOA represents more than 1,000 Thoroughbred breeders and owners internationally who breed, raise, sell, train and race horses born in the state of Florida. FTBOA does this by having a seat at the table for pertinent issues facing the local, state, and national Thoroughbred industries. FTBOA also works closely with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the State of Florida thanks to the State’s pro-business stance and industry tax incentives such as no sales tax on fencing, feed, and grain.

FTBOA trademarked Horse Capital of the World® and Ocala/Marion County Horse Capital of the World®, which are used to promote the region and its equine services.

FTBOA owns Florida Equine Communications (FEC), publisher of the award-winning monthly Thoroughbred-centric magazine The Florida Horse and the Wire to Wire Racing Digest. FEC also produces Horse Capital Digest®, the official publication of Horse Capital of the World®; and partners with Horse Capital Television, the official video platform of Horse Capital of the World®, to promote all equine breeds and disciplines in Central Florida. FEC produces award-winning industry videos, social media, and original website content.

In 2022, FTBOA launched, The Florida Horse podcast and Kaplan Media’s production studios moved to the FTBOA headquarters providing seamless video production capabilities for the Association.

In 2022, the Association’s CEO Lonny Powell was honored with two national awards, the American Horse Council’s Van Ness Award for lifelong service to the equine industry, and he was named Florida Executive of the Year by the Florida Society of Association Executives. In 2015, FTBOA was awarded Florida Association of the Year by the Florida Society of Association Executives and the Non-Profit of the Year by the Ocala Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership, a prestigious honor considering there were more than 1,000 non-profits in the county.

FTBOA through its charitable arm, Florida Thoroughbred Charities, has raised more than $4 million in the last two decades for Thoroughbred retirement, scholarships, and education in Marion County, and within the State of Florida. The FTBOA headquarters also houses the Florida Thoroughbred museum where visitors and fans alike can learn more about the history of Florida Thoroughbred champions, their connections and achievements in the industry.

The FTBOA is located at 801 SW 60th Avenue in Ocala, Fla., next door to the worldwide perennial leader in two-year-olds in training sales, Ocala Breeder’s Sales, centered in the heart of the Thoroughbred industry in the state.

Carlton Ward, Jr to be Keynote Speaker at Horse Farms Forever’s Conservation Summit

by Busy Shires | Aug 25, 2023 | Events, News

Ocala, FL – August 25, 2023 – Horse Farms Forever, Inc.® is pleased to announce that Carlton Ward, Jr, a National Geographic Explorer and photographer, will be the Keynote Speaker at the Fourth Annual Conservation Summit to be held on Thursday, November 16 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company.

Join us for a Conversation about Conservation as Carlton shares the story about photographing the first female Florida panther documented north of the Caloosahatchee River since 1973. Carlton’s quest to photograph the elusive and endangered Florida Panther was documented in the “Path of the Panther,” an award-winning documentary film produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Carlton’s photograph of Babs, as the panther is affectionately named, shows that the range of the Florida panther has expanded north from the Everglades. This expansion is the key to the panther’s recovery, but their long-term survival depends on protecting land within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

“If we can show the world who that panther is, that’s going to be the spark to save this whole corridor,” said Carlton in the Path of the Panther film preview.

The Path of the Panther film has already made an impact by inspiring the passage of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act in 2021, which helped secure over $800 million in state funding for land conservation. Since the Act was passed in 2021, nearly 120,000 acres of land have been approved for conservation.

“I want everyone who sees the film to have tremendous pride in the state of Florida and know about the Florida Wildlife Corridor and the importance of it for the state’s future,” said Carlton “That’s why our team spent so many years focusing on the Florida panther. It’s a symbol of the need for protecting the corridor.”

The Florida Wildlife Corridor is an existing, nearly contiguous network of land that stretches from the Panhandle to the Florida Keys over about 18 million acres. Nearly 10 million acres has been conserved as public lands and as private lands that are protected with a conservation easement, but about half of the corridor is at risk of being developed.

About 40% of Marion County is included as part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The Ocala National Forest at over 430,000 acres in Marion County, is one of the largest pieces of the Florida Wildlife Corridor puzzle. The goal is to connect additional conservation lands such as the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway and Silver Springs State Park by protecting private land with conservation easements. A portion of the Farmland Preservation Area in northwest Marion County is also part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Two of the key partner organizations working to protect the Florida Wildlife Corridor will also be speaking at the 2023 Conservation Summit. Mallory Lykes Dimmitt is the CEO of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, which champions a collaborative campaign to connect, protect, and restore the Florida Wildlife Corridor. Traci Deen is the President and CEO of Conservation Florida, a statewide land conservancy focused on protecting natural and agricultural landscapes with a primary focus on saving land within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

By conserving private ranches and farms as part of the Florida Wildlife Corridor, this also allows agriculture operations to continue to contribute to the economy and to the production of food, timber, and other resources vital to the prosperity of Florida.

View Trailer

The Florida Wildlife Corridor

The Florida Wildlife Corridor is a statewide network of over 18 million acres that supports wildlife, people, and communities. It runs from the panhandle all the way to the tip of the peninsula. The Florida Wildlife Corridor already exists. The goal is to ensure continued connection between public land and green spaces across the state through private and public land conservation.

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Path of the Panther

The Path of the Panther tells the story of how a group of photographers, veterinarians, ranchers, conservationists, and indigenous people joined forces to track and protect the endangered Florida panther. In this moving documentary, stunning images of the big cats spur the movement to restore a majestic keystone species as well as a dwindling wilderness.

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The Florida Panther

The Florida panther is more than just an icon for Florida’s last wild places. It is a conservation keystone. The panther is an umbrella species with the largest terrestrial home range in the state, protecting dozens of other species in its domain. Reaching near extinction in the 1950’s, the Florida panther was among the first to be added to the U.S. Endangered Species list in 1973.

Protecting land for the panther is important for people and communities too because connected habitat helps provide clean air and drinking water, as well as other benefits like pollination of food crops and flood mitigation from heavy rains or hurricanes. The panther population has rebounded from about 30 adults to nearly 200 today. But the species faces a multitude of new challenges.

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Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation

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Conservation Florida

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Conservation Summit 2023

by Michelle Grald | Aug 10, 2023

A Conversation About Conservation with CARLTON WARD, JR.

Thursday, November 16th at Ocala Breeder's Sales

Hear from the National Geographic Explorer and Conservation Photographer as he shares the story about how photographing the elusive and endangered Florida Panther in south Florida led to the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act and $800 million in funding for the corridor. Carlton’s quest was documented in Path of the Panther, an award-winning film produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

We will also hear from Mallory Lykes Dimmitt, CEO of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation and Traci Deen, President and CEO of Conservation Florida.

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, light fare and libations served

Learn About the Florida Wildlife Corridor

Path of the Panther Book Signing

Carlton Ward, Jr. will sign copies of Path of the Panther hard copy book, published by National Geographic. The book is full of stunning images of the Florida Panther. Foreword by Carl Hiaasen.