Marion County horse farm in need of a home

Horses played peacefully at the Horse Protection Association of Florida. Morgan Silver has been nursing each of them back to heath, after they came to her non-profit farm, abused and neglected.

“They say some of them look so bad and some of them look so good. They don't realize they're before-and-afters. When you first walk in, because they're so dramatic,” Silver said.

Silver pointed out where the bottom of a barn was rotting away. “This is from the water. The water goes all the way in the barn and just floods the whole aisle-way,” she said.

Silver said the farm badly needs a new home. “We're just putting the word out there that we're praying for another farm,” she said.

The land looked dry but after a few hours of rain, it turns into a swamp. The soil here is a thick, black clay, which they call "gumbo." When it rains, it doesn't drain properly and the whole place ends-up waterlogged. That's difficult on the 54 horses like "Music" who call this place home.

Music was skin-and-bones when he arrived at Horse Protection. Four months later, they said he was fit and happy. Down at his feet, though, the wet ground created a painful abscess.

“It'll eventually go all the way to the bottom, but see the scar tissue? That's all scar tissue from how deep it was. That's a huge hole,” Silver explained.

Silver said they're looking for land further south.

“We're just praying and hoping to get some land, or use of some land, in south Marion County to some drier, sandier area.”

Ideally, she said, they’re looking for land somewhere near The Villages, where horse-loving seniors would be able to volunteer.