Pulling up to Cara’s original Florida Cracker home, you are instantly greeted by her three charming companions, who act more like best friends and protectors than animals of varying breeds. Her dog, Chill — short for “Chill Out” — runs faster on three legs than I admittedly do on my own two feet. Easel, her miniature horse, walks right in with a carrot teaser, while Ares, her majestic 15-year-old Anglo-Arab gelding — originally from France and a former Grand Prix jumper — prances around her windows, seemingly miffed that his invite to the “party” inside was not extended to him.
If you are not from Florida, the term “Florida Cracker” can seem off-putting, only to realize it describes the original Colonial-era British settlers. Cara says when she first moved to the property, the land was completely overgrown and the house likely should have been condemned. But her belief in restoring historic Florida drove her to clear the land and bring the home back to life.
Having lived in 13 different cities, including time spent in both England and Mexico, she believes you can assimilate into new places while protecting the original land and charm that come from a community.
Cara, originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, moved to Florida in 2023, although her fascination with Ocala began long before with the purchase of her first thoroughbred in middle school. As she examined his Jockey Club papers, she remembers thinking to herself, “Where in the world is Ocala, Florida?”
Her junior year of high school brought what she believed would be one step closer to her dream of exploring Ocala, as her trainer at the time suggested the possibility of graduating early in order to attend the winter circuit here. It seemed serendipitous as her fascination with a place she had never visited grew stronger. Yet the very next day, Cara was told to sell her horse after her mother felt she had taken the “horse thing” a bit too far.
She wintered here in 2020 to showcase her artwork and continued to spend the next two seasons in both Ocala and Micanopy. She moved to her 4-acre ranch in Williston in late 2023.
Right before COVID-19 shifted the world into a semi-permanent pause, she became a vendor at Live Oak International. She says it was her first time intentionally trying to sell her work at an event of that caliber. The showing, safe to say, exceeded her expectations. It became apparent that while she had long loved Ocala, the town loved her right back. After Live Oak International, there was no doubt this was exactly where she was meant to be.
Cara credits the natural beauty of Ocala — its water and trees, along with its identity as the Horse Capital of the World — as enough to make her cry happy tears. But she believes it is the community that makes it extraordinary. From the art scene to the horses, the inspiration she found led her to create a Facebook page that has blossomed to nearly 100,000 members with the help of her friend Amy Agricola. She says Ocala has a genuine spirit of kindness and generosity. She has noticed people in the group gathering together to help others through inevitable storms and personal losses, which she finds truly inspirational. She is left in constant amazement at everyone pulling together for others.
Although she claims she has no idea where her love for horses originated, she is drawn to them in a way that simply makes sense. Before I knew Cara personally, I knew her artwork. To say she took her love for “all things horse” too far would be like telling the sun not to shine or the ocean not to rise with the tide. Most of her paintings feature horses and are what have driven her success.
She believes in the desire to meet her full potential and feels as though if she could “do something else, she would,” believing there is not much more difficult than making a living from art and equine. She owes them both a mountain of gratitude for who she is becoming in the process. She is humble when speaking about her gifts and acknowledges the internal struggle that took years to overcome as she fought against her own talent. Cara now believes she has disciplined herself, and her goals require that focus to achieve.
Cara serves as a board member for the Marion Cultural Alliance and has volunteered at Bronson Elementary. She is currently creating a tile backsplash for a longstanding client in Colorado. She keeps busy working on commissioned pieces along with her work on display at Cross Gate Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky, and ManeLine Gallery.
Upcoming events include Live Oak International in Ocala, Global VIP Artist in Wellington, the Kentucky Three-Day Event in Lexington, the FEI World Cup in Fort Worth, Texas, and Devon Gallery in Devon, Pennsylvania.
For more information on her work, follow her on social media at Cara VL or visit caravl.com.
