Last weekend I went down to Florida to visit a friend.  We ended up in Fort Pierce to go to the farmer’s market and wander around.  However, she had forgotten that it was the weekend of the yearly Florida Cracker Trail Ride.  We were walking down the street with the dog and suddenly there were horses walking down the street with people cracking bullwhips! Caroline’s dog was less than impressed with all of this.

Florida is about much more than the beach and Disney World; they actually have a long standing history of working cattle.  The term “cracker” refers to the bullwhip they used to round up the cattle from the brush, the small, specialized breed of horse, and many other things.  The Florida Cracker horse is an actual breed.  They’re small, gaited, and descended from the original horses brought over from Spain.  They were nearly extinct after the dust bowl when larger cows were brought into Florida and the larger Quarter Horses were used.

The Florida Cracker trail ride that we witnessed starts in Bradenton on the other side of the state and goes all the way across (approximately 120 miles) to end in Fort Pierce at the water. It was by complete coincidence that we caught it.

After spending some time calming the dog down, we actually did make it to the farmer’s market! It was pretty much the same as the other farmer’s markets I’ve been to with vendors selling a variety of food and crafts. However, the food served included conch ceviche, fruit smoothies, and apple cider donuts (due to the influence of people from New England).

Overall it was a very exciting morning for the dog, so we headed back to the house to relax before our next adventure!