06 September 2019
There aren’t many places where you can stroke the golden coat of an Akhal-teke. Shiny lives at the Kentucky Horse Park, our base for two nights and all day today.
A weekday in September proved to be a perfect time to visit the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
$12 allowed entrance to the park for two days.
Once inside, we boarded a horse drawn trolley to orient ourselves to the park layout.
Tree lined fenced lanes bordered the park perimeter. The two horsepower trolley dropped us off near the Big Barn where the power lived.
The Big Barn isn’t named for it’s size. This is the barn where we met big draft horses. Here, Beth is getting introduced to Colin, one of their Clydesdales. A gentle boy, Colin is 15 years old, 17.3 hands and weighs 1,700 lbs.
Horse height is measured in “hands.” A hand is 4 inches and a horse is measured to the height of their withers, (the highest non-variable part of the skeleton), rather than the top of the head.
This young lady demonstrated how to prepare a draft horse for work pulling a wagon or cart.
He cooperated, bowing to let her heft the heavy collar over his head. Sorry I don’t remember his breed or name, but he looked good and ready for work with his harnesses on.
Next up was a visit to the Hall of Champions barn and pavillion, where we were introduced to retired champion race horses and their stories. This is Da Hoss, a Breeder’s Cup Mile Champion. His handler is 93 year old Gene Carter, the last living person to ride Man o’ War.
After the show we strolled down a Memorial Walk where monuments to famous racing horses lined the sides of the path.
Twenty different horse breeds are represented in the Breeds Barn. Visit in the morning to witness the horses getting bathed and groomed.
Five or six horses are selected to show their stuff in a Parade of Breeds show. Horses and their riders are dressed as they might have been for their jobs.
The ears set this Marwari apart from other breeds.
Hairy, the Fell Pony, lived up to his name.
After the show we met some of the horses and their riders before walking out to the van to make lunch.
On the way back in, we noticed the glow of a welding torch by the Fighting Stallions sculpture.
The man wielding the torch was Thomas Humphries, an artist who transforms recycled materials into amazing sculptures. He was doing some touch-up work on the sculpture he spent four years creating.
Back inside we headed over to the Mounted Police Barn.
Ready for anything, wearing his face shield, Albion is a 21 year old English Shire standing 17.2 hands tall and weighing 1,800 lbs. Officers and their horse partners explain the history of mounted police when they aren’t out patrolling the park grounds or performing first responder duties.
If the weather is inclement, four museums are under cover within the park. Even though the weather was beautiful, we did take the time to go inside where all kinds of interesting facts awaited us. Museum admission is included in the general park entrance fee.
The International Museum of the Horse was the largest of the museums and was very enlightening, especially to two people with a very limited knowledge of the role horses have played in history.
One example is this full scale model showing how horses were hoisted aboard old sailing ships for the voyage from Europe to the Americas.
Horses are featured in art from around the world.
Artistry exists in the tack used to saddle and dress horses such as this Word’s Champion Cowgirl saddle.
Here we are back in the primitive camping area. For a little more the park offers a campground with full service sites, a pool, and other amenities.
After dinner we wandered back to the park where a young lady and her beautiful horse were practicing for an event.
One of three large events spaces, we ducked inside this large covered pavilion, where we found it being prepared by a horse park version of a Zamboni.
Not really having an understanding of what was going on, we were still impressed by the beauty and seriousness of the competitors. This gentleman was the youngest rider at the event.
As horse neophytes, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the park and highly recommend it.
If you can’t visit in person, there are archived live videos with the staff and horses available on-line at https://kyhorsepark.com/visit-khp/virtual-tours/
My favorite is a video introducing five draft horses from the Big Barn here. They range from the 1,700 pound Laura, to Jace at over 2,000 pounds – hint: the Clydesdale is not the largest breed.
