Noodlings & Natterings from the Edge: May 13, 2015

Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY. My heaven, Ken’s “meh.” He was happy to drop me off to play while he got new tires for the truck—much needed after 51,000+ miles, at least half of them hauling our 18,000-pound fifth wheel around the U.S. three seasons a year.

This was my second time to the park. It has grown a lot in 20 years. I could have stayed all day, there’s so much to see and do: three horse museums, two “Horses of the World” breed shows a day (each different), three “Hall of Champions” all-star presentations a day (all different), acres of cross-country grounds to walk, several barns to visit, statues of famous equines everywhere…and just the soul-quieting joy of being around contented horses and on beautiful grounds.

I took the free ten-minute horse-drawn tour as an orientation and spent the rest of three hours going wherever I felt like next. The park is home to many retired champions from all aspects of the sport, most notably racing. There’s also a horse cemetery where, in traditional fashion, they bury only the horse’s head, heart, and feet; the rest they cremate and spread around the grounds.

The day we arrived at the park’s nearby campground, they were just starting a four-day international jumping competition, which piqued even Ken’s interest. We watched quite a bit of the warm-ups and shows and wandered the cross country course imagining what it was like to hurtle 1,500 pounds of galloping horse toward unforgiving obstacles 4 feet high and 6 feet broad.


Two placid, handsome Belgians gave the day’s first tour of the park.

In addition to being a tourist attraction and a hub for worldwide competitions, the park is a working horse farm in all respects, with stables, farriers, veterinarians, and stable hands—many of them staff and others volunteer. There’s even onsite mounted police. Naturally, horses have right of way to cars, especially during shows when riders move among the arenas, temporary barns, warm-up rings, and cool-down areas.

Early 1900s watering tower, a remnant of the park’s time as a racing and breeding farm before it become a public attraction in 1978. The land has had many owners since the 1770s, most of them involved in raising and showing competition horses of some kind—Thoroughbreds, Saddlebreds, Standardbreds, Trotters. One owner built the watering system to ensure fresh water for the horses from a spring that never ran dry.

For its World of Horses shows, the park retains a large number of horse breeds ranging from the commonly known Quarterhorse and Saddlebred to the lesser known Paso Fino and Gypsy. Many live at the park while others rotate in from owners all around the country. The 20-minute breed shows therefore vary throughout the year. This show’s lineup had (left to right) an Ahkal-Teke, a Gypsy, an unusual champagne-colored Quarterhorse, an American Standardbred, and a miniature horse with his cart. The riders dress in clothing typical of the breed’s primary country and use.

The American Standardbred.

The Ahkal-Teke, a horse common to desert environments and known for its shimmering gold coat.

Several school groups were at the park, and the first-graders immediately found their favorite breed at the post-show meet-and-greet. They lavished little Starbuck with hugs and pets, and the mini just ate it up.

In the draft horse barn, one of the Friesians has just been prepped for his turn at the trolley ride. The park cycles the job among three or four draft-horse pairs. Below is a clip of his buddy getting groomed…with a vacuum. How often I wished for a Shop-Vac for Barney!

At the Hall of Champions gazebo, handlers parade the most famous of the park’s retirees in front of fans while an emcee tells the horse’s reputation and shows a film clip of him in action. It really is wonderful to see these magnificent animals up close. Some are still quite a handful to manage. This is Da Hoss, a famous comeback story of the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Mile, which he won after a two-year timeout recovering from multiple leg problems.

I love watching a horse enjoy a good roll. This fellow was in the field behind the audience at the Hall of Champions. As I waited for the show to start, he went down for a double roll (one each side), then got back to the important business of grazing.

Was this robin debating its options?

The park’s International Museum of the Horse does an excellent job exploring the centuries-old relationship between man and horse, up to contemporary times. The museum is even better than it was 20 years ago.