Paynes Prairie Preserve

We promised ourselves that when we moved we would take one day a week and explore. We moved here in February. We "explored" exactly one time...and the park we went to visit was closed! 

The Mister suggested we head out one morning to explore Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, just south of Gainesville, FL. They have wild horses there. He needed to say no more! Off we went. 

However, we bumped into a Bass Pro Shop first, so that took a bit of time. 

Our GPS routed us to a back gate to the park. We had to turn around and reroute ourselves to the main entrance. Finally we were there...and it was a balmy 93 and sunny. Ugh, not exactly the best weather for hiking and finding wild horses or finding the herd of bison that also lives there.

I was trying to capture a selfie in front of the visitor's center.
Do you find that your arms are too short?

I did manage to climb the 53 steps of the observation tower. I was told by some other guests that the horses were there yesterday and the day before...but they chose to go elsewhere on our visit. 

There may have been some brown critters near the palmetto trees in the distance,
or there may not have been any critters there.

The horses are supposed to be descendants of horses from Spanish explorers - similar to the Chincoteague ponies on Assateague Island, NC and the marsh tacky ponies in the low country of SC. 

The only horse I saw was this picture in a mural at the visitor's center. 
The Florida cowboys were called "crackers"because of the sound their whips made.

Visitors share information about their sightings with the rangers.
A board of daily sightings indicated that the horses had been seen earlier in the day we visited.

Maybe next time!