Horse Research Center
Established in 1969, the HRC is a 320-acre complex located 7 miles north of Ocala in Marion County, the center of Florida's horse breeding industry. The center provides facilities for research on problems important to the horse industry.
The center includes the following facilities:
- Mare and foal barn with 22 stalls, feed room, office and weight scales.
- Weanling/yearling barn with 24 feeding stalls, feed room, 4 dry lot paddocks and weight scales.
- Pony handling facility with catch pen, 2 working chutes, stocks and scales.
- 4 one-acre stallion (details) paddocks.
- Laboratory building with 3 laboratories, surgery suite, and x-ray (picture) room.
- House for farm manager or employee.
- 1 resident trailer for 3 students.
- Main office.
The HRC maintains a breeding herd of about 22 Thoroughbred and 28 Quarter Horse mares and 5 stallions. Quarter Horse yearlings are sold by sealed bid in May or June through the Horse Teaching Unit in Gainesville and the Thoroughbred yearlings are sold at the Ocala Breeders Open Yearling Sale in August.
Primary research efforts conducted at the center are:
- Nutritional factors influencing skeletal development in growing horses--emphasis is on trace mineral levels, mineral interrelationships, and bone mineral content.
- Mechanisms of seasonal reproduction in mares--key effort is to develop tools to control the springtime transition of reproductive activity.
Horses
Picture Tour
Contact Details & Hours
2655 NW 100th Street, Ocala, FL 34475
Phone: (352) 622-7084 / Fax: (352) 622-3956
Email: hrc@animal.ufl.edu
Farm Manager: Chris Cooper (352) 538-4348
Faculty Supervisor: Joel McQuagge (352) 392-6363
Normal business hours: 7am-4pm Monday to Friday
Closed for lunch 12pm-1pm.
Visitors welcomed by appointment only.
Driving Directions
From I-75: Take exit number 358. Go east on SR326 to first traffic light. Turn left (north) on CR25A. Go 2 miles ( you will pass the Ocala Speedway and a BP gas station). Turn right immediately after the BP gas station onto NW 100th Street. Keep going straight for approximately 1 mile until you reach the University of Florida Horse Research Center on the left hand side.
From 441 South: 441 will join with 301 close to Ocala. Continue south for several miles and you will see a sign that says "Martin and Anthony." Turn right onto NW 100th Street toward Martin. The farm is on the right, approximately 1 mile from 441.
