Brian Cox, broker of New Millennium Realty, has been in Ocala, Marion
County for almost his entire life. Until about two years ago, he had
never set foot on the grounds of Post Time Farm, which is the home to
HITS for the winter season. HITS stands for Horse Shows in the Sun
and beckons international show jumpers from all over the world every
year to spend at least a portion of their Winter season here competing
in Ocala. Quite often, world renowned Olympians spend a great deal of
time at HITS in Ocala, making the show jumping competitions all Winter
long, some of the most exciting equine events available to everyone
in this community and beyond.
Why then would an Ocala native or a long time resident of this beautiful
area never have visited HITS or other horse shows and events that
take place here in Marion County and the surrounding area? The
answer is very simple actually, most non-equestrians, either feel that
they may not be welcomed as outsiders or they may not have enough
knowledge to enjoy themselves or they fear appearing ignorant about
horses and the sports they compete in. For the non-horse person,
questions arise like, will I be able to go and watch, will there be things
for children to do, who should I sit with, should I call ahead and who
should I talk to about attending. This was much the way Brian and
others just like him have felt for years. Honestly, none of these nonequestrians,
including Brian, had any idea what they were missing
out on. As Brian’s real estate career flourished and he prospered with
great success from dedicated hard work, lots of client referrals and
well placed advertising, he began to mingle with some horse people.
In these circles, he realized that he, his family and his team were
really missing out on an opportunity to list, market and sell farms and
really do this to the best of their ability to help as many people in this
community that he loves so much.. As he began to educate himself and
cross boundaries, he joined forces with the Horse Talk Show and other
people in the equine world and began to sponsor and attend events
and horse shows, traveling to the Rolex in Kentucky, sponsoring a major
International 3-Day Event and spending hours in the HITS VIP tent,
watching excitement like the Nations Cup and the Great American One
Million Grand Prix. He stayed up late at night studying on line, learning
the parts of the horse, the breeds, equine health problems and faithfully
tuning in every Saturday morning, walking around his house with his
headphones on to listen to the radio show he loved. The wall placed
between equestrians and non-equestrians began to crumble for Brian
as he began to truly love being in the horse world, following closely in
all the activities that go on in around Marion County.
The Ocala, Marion County Chamber and Economic Partnership (CEP)
released a 2.6 billion equine economic impact study for Marion County
a few years ago and the CEO of the CEP, Kevin Sheilley knew an
equine initiative, to include all breeds and all disciplines, was greatly
needed in our county. Brian Cox of New Millennium Realty jumped on
this opportunity to become the first to sponsor an initiative to become
the action committee to move forward and link the two worlds, the
horse world and the non-horse world. The Equine Engagement Committee
at the Ocala, Marion County Chamber and Economic Partnership
meets once a month and has standing room only for many of
the meetings, discussing HITS, horse events, the International 3-Day
Event, horse racing successes connected to Marion County, while
also addressing immigration concerns and other issues our farms
are facing. The success of the meetings and the ‘Equine 101’ training
sessions provided for partners is priceless. Brian is already seeing that
the sponsorship that he has invested in is returning dividends to all the
businesses involved, as these two worlds meet and begin to understand
one another. From networking and educating to an international
Nations Cup Parade of horses and Olympians in our downtown streets,
the Ocala, Marion County CEP is proving that equine engagement
works.
The question that comes to my mind is, how many like Brian are there
out there, feeling that with little knowledge and no direction, they may
never be confident enough to engage with the equine world. It is so
important that horse owners welcome the non-equestrians and that the
horse shows and events add family friendly activities to encourage nonequestrians
to attend and bring their families. Change is happening
and we believe that by improving equine education and knowledge and
encouraging networking between the two worlds, that soon the horse
events and shows will be full of non-equestrians enjoying a big part of
what makes Ocala what it really is, ‘the Horse Capital of the World’.
Then I believe we potentially could see a 2.6 billion dollar industry
increase or maybe even double and that will help all of our businesses
flourish and grow. Then hopefully more of this community will have the
confidence to step into the equine world and enjoy the agility, speed,
beauty, grace and nobility of the horse for many years to come.
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