Joan Pletcher

Memorial Day is around the corner and while some are planning vacations away from home, there is plenty to do here in Ocala this summer, particularly at the World Equestrian Center. WEC hosts events year-round. We invite you to explore what’s in store for you this June.

The 149th running of the Kentucky Derby is May 6, 2023, and once again, Ocala, Florida is well represented with at least three, and up to five horses running in the available 20 racing spots. Todd Pletcher, son of J.J. Pletcher and Joan Pletcher’s stepson, has five horses contending. Four additional horses have strong ties

Welcome to Ocala, home of a new 368-acre facility on a park property of 6,000 acres: The World Equestrian Center of Ocala. This is a world-class multi-indoor and outdoor arena and property that offers state-of-the-art amenities for multiple disciplines within the equine industry. With 15 outdoor rings and five climate-controlled indoor arenas, the Center is

Known today as the Bradford / Barker house, this home was originally located on property owned by Carson Bradford, who bought the real estate in Ocklawaha in 1892. His son, living in Miami, built the house in 1930. It was a two story Florida cracker style home with three bedrooms and two baths with a

A community that calls itself the “Horse Capital of the World” will further justify that title with the opening of the World Equestrian Center. The 3,000-acre complex in the heart of scenic horse country will be unique in the Southeast United States as a center for world-class equine events. The main arena will seat 10,000

He helped create the largest Combined Driving and Show Jumping event in the United States. But he couldn’t compete that first year, because he wasn’t yet 18 years old. That was back in 1992. When he finally did reach 18 the next year, he became the youngest driver ever to be named to the United

Ocala / Marion County is home to the largest number of horses and ponies in the United States. Not only to we have the numbers, there is a wide variety of breeds and riding disciplines that call Ocala home. This is what makes Central Florida attractive to horse lovers, competitors, breeders and industry leaders alike.

Ocala is known not only for its beautiful horses and farms. Ocala is known for producing horses who often, as Joan Pletcher says, “Outrun their pedigrees.” J.J. Pletcher and his wife Joan moved to Ocala in 1985 to continue training thoroughbreds and Joan has built a successful real estate company specializing in equestrian estates, Ocala

The exceptional beauty of Padua Stables with its open, rolling countryside and scenic lakes, has an exceptional history to match. It was here among these spreading oaks and rolling hills that Silver Charm was foaled in 1994. Trained by Bob Baffert and Gary Stephens, Silver Charm went on to win the 1997 Kentucky Derby and

The city of Ocala was established in 1849, but has roots going back centuries of Native American culture. Ocale, or Ocali was a Timucua village and means “Big Hammock” later inhabited by Seminole Native Americans. The downtown area of Ocala was destroyed by a fire on Thanksgiving Day, 1883. The city encouraged rebuilding with brick,