Horse Fever Horses are one of my favorite things to see
whenever I have to make a trek into the city of Ocala ,
Florida . Each year, since 2001, life-sized
horse statues are painted and embellished by local artists and displayed
through out the city.
Some of them are truly amazing works of art, but they aren’t
just pretty to look at. The statues are on display in public locations for one
year. Afterward the painted ponies are auctioned off and the money donated to
local charities.
In March of 2012 the herd brought in $208,000 to benefit the
Marion Cultural Alliance and 17 other local charities. In the programs time
they’ve raised over one million dollars for MCA and other local charities.
Why horse statues and not something else you ask? Ocala
has been dubbed the ‘Horse Capital of the World’ boasting over 900 farms and
training centers for thoroughbreds.
Other cities in the US
have gotten Horse Fever as well. So, the next time you see a painted horse
around town check it out. It might just be a charitable thoroughbred.
For more information and an interactive map of the horses go
to http://ocala.com
Part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge for the letter H.
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| You can find these three horses .... |
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| at the ... |
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| Downtown Square |
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| This beauty can be found at the Appleton Museum of Art |
Horses are beautiful, powerful creatures. I love Native American and Latin American art on horses. Writer’s Mark
ReplyDeleteThose are real cool. I live up in Saratoga Springs, NY and we also have decorated horse statues scattered throughout our city. My daughter gets a kick out of seeing how many she can find when we're driving around.
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