Georgetown, KY – A sudden lurch of the RV woke me up this morning, and I lifted the blind to see SNOW billowing about in a gust of strong wind and blanketing the car and the ground around us! Fortunately we had taken precautions so nothing froze, and we were toasty warm all night under our down duvet.
Going outside was another matter altogether. A freezing, bitter wind whipped at us, and we put on just about every layer we had. Despite these relatively minor challenges, we headed out to visit the Kentucky Horse Park on the outskirts of Lexington. The park is some 1300 acres, with paddocks, a dressage complex, huge barns, a couple of museums, a visitor center and restaurant and more, all dedicated to the horse!
In addition to videos, displays and statues of horses, there are real animals of many breeds to look at, plus carriages, farm implements, saddlery, trophies and other associated items and activities. After a short film about the history of horses in America, we took the trolley ride around the grounds. Two enormous black draft horses pulled the open-air trolley as their great hooves clopped on the asphalt and we huddled together in the icy wind.
We stopped inside the Mounted Police barn and chatted with Lisa, the police officer in charge of the small detachment that serves the park, while she tended to Jake, a large white horse, in his stall. It turns out Lisa knows a couple of RCMP horse people we know – small world.
On we went to visit the Hall of Champions, and some of the horse world’s greats. We saw Da Hoss, Funny Cide, Cigar and Go for Gin, four thoroughbreds responsible for raking in millions of dollars in winnings at various races. A guide told us their stories as their handler brought each one out of its stall for us to admire.
By this time we were thoroughly chilled, so we headed for the restaurant to warm up with a hearty hot meal!
The International Museum of the Horse was our next stop, with three floors of wonderful displays describing horse anatomy, the history from pre-historic times, the interaction of man and horse, the uses to which horses have been put over the years, various breeds of horses (including a whole floor dedicated to the Arabian horse) and famous horses, riders and handlers.
We took a short break to go out and see the presentation on Horses of the World Up Close and Personal, where a staff member described the park’s facilities (there’s room for over a thousand horses at one time!) and events in the park, as well as some of the special breeds, such as a huge grey Shire horse that eyed us from his stall while we listened.
After completing the international museum, we went over to the American Saddlebred Museum, which focuses on American horse breeds. Some of them participate in showy events where they prance smartly with long wispy tails and an exaggerated curl to their front legs. At this museum, they had a couple of giant rocking horses people are allowed to ride; it was fun!
To finish the day we took a spin into Lexington to see the home of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln. The visitor season doesn’t start until tomorrow – but we saw the outside anyway.
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