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Lexington, Kentucky |
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Lexington, Kentucky |
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2003 |
The Kentucky Horse Park Logo A View of the Park
Lexington is just 75 miles south of Cincinnati - in the heart of Horse Country! The Kentucky Horse Park Campground is a beautiful campground located adjacent to the Kentucky Horse Park - a must-see for horse lovers. Gerry qualifies!! I was even impressed. The Kentucky Horse Park is sprawled across many acres and (paying) visitors are free to roam the park to check out the various barns, museums and special shows. The Hall of Champions introduces the visitors to several of the famous horses who have been retired to the Park. In addition to the three below are, Staying together, a Standardbred Pacer, Sargent Pepper Feature, a Racing Quarterhorse, and John Henry, a Thoroughbred.
A Parade of Breeds, shown twice during the day, introduced us to a few breeds I had never heard of, including the Trakehner, used often for dressage; the Fresian, the oldest domesticated horse in Europe; the Kiger Mustang; the Hanoverian, and the Rocky Mountain Horse, originally bred right in Lexington, Kentucky. More common breeds included the Tennessee Walking Horse, the American Saddlebred, and the Thoroughbred. We also got to meet I Two Step Too, a thoroughbred that played a major role in the movie, Seabiscuit.
The Fresian The Trakehner The Rocky Mountain Horse The American Saddlebred I Two Step Too
They also have several pairs of draft horses, including Percherons and Clydesdales, that are used in the horse-drawn trolley and carriage tours. Gerry's always interested in checking out the Clydesdales.
We enjoyed seeing a special exhibit on loan from Great Britain, All the Queen's Horses, but no cameras were allowed. We did visit the International Museum of the Horse and the American Saddle Horse Museum, both housed on the grounds of the park. The Rood and Riddle Kentucky Grand Prix will be on Saturday, August 23rd (we will be gone by then). But we caught two days of some of the preliminary hunter - jumper classes.
A tour of the Thoroughbred Center was a wonderful experience for both of us. This is a training facility for race horses and they currently house a thousand racehorses. Every morning the horses work out on the track, so on our morning tour, we got to watch them. We also met Mike Cameron, a trainer who rents a barn there. He answered lots of questions from our tour group and we got to see one of his horses up close and personal.
Running the Track On the Track More Horses on the Track Mike with One of His Horses In the Stall
Downtown, we visited the Thoroughbred Park, where 7 bronze racehorses with their jockeys are captured in the heat of a race.
A Race in Bronze Gerry by the Statue of Lexington
