KENTUCKY HORSE PARK EXPEDITION!

I have driven by the sign indicating the entrance to the Kentucky Horse Park (www.KyHorsePark.com) on previous cross-country trips, but was only able to actually enter the park, and see its many attractions, on a recent 2025 visit in the area.  

 

As soon as I entered the park, my attention was drawn to an area near the entrance, where a young person was doing some training with a beautiful black horse.  

The Visitor Center was easy to find, and well marked with large signs.  

It is appropriate that there are iron gates at the entrance to the Visitor Center, because their address is 4089 IRON Works Pike, in Lexington, Kentucky.  

The gift shop inside the Visitor Center has everything a horse lover might want to purchase, to remember their visit to this remarkable place.  

While at the Visitor Center Gift shop, I learned that framing a portion of your horse's mane, along with its bit and bridal, is apparently a common thing to do.  The shadow box display brought to mind one of my First Place 4 Health (www.FirstPlace4Health.com) memory verses from James 3:3 that says, "When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal".  Just  as a bit guides a horse, the way one uses their tongue, can direct one's life and actions.

People my age may remember when the famous Barbie Doll went beyond simply looking pretty in her specialty clothes, to dressing in all manner of professional attire to promote women as more than just "a pretty face".  So I was not surprised to see a doll in the gift shop, designed to be a female veterinarian, complete with a top horse to medicate.  

In the Visitor Center lobby, there was a gigantic, gold  picture frame, with a life size horse photo inside it, so that visitors can have their photo made with this (pretend) prize-winning horse!

Also in the lobby was this model, based on the famous "Trojan Horse" story, where an invading army hid inside a colossal model of a horse.  Notice in this exhibit, there is a door on the side of the horse, where a soldier, who is ascending the ladder, could be hidden.  Although I did not have time on this visit to go through the International Museum of the Horse, that is located within the Visitor Center, I know from what I read on their website, there are numerous other art pieces and historical artifacts at the museum, that will fascinate the viewer.

Numerous locations I have visited across the USA have chosen an iconic symbol of their area, and then assigned talented artisans to paint messages on the icon.  I have seen bears, airplanes, pelicans, and shoes.  Therefore, it is not surprising that Kentucky, which is famous for its bourbon production, would have a wooden bourbon barrel, artistically decorated with scenes from the state.  

Another item in the Visitor Center lobby, was this horse sculpture with the autographs of people significant in  equestrian history.   Even though I received my "Horsemanship" badge in Girl Scouts, and made the round trip to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back via sitting in the saddle of a four-legged creature, I did not feel worthy to ask for a Sharpie pen to add my name.  

Since this area is known for its historic "dry stack" stone fences, there is a display of one just outside the Visitor Center.  The park sits on 1,200 acres of Kentucky bluegrass farmland, so there were doubtless some of the stone fences of the acreage from hundreds of years of past farming, before the area was converted to public usage in 1978.  The house in the background is a significant landmark of the property.  It was built in 1866.  The property has been through numerous owners, but in 1972, Mary Edwards sold her property to the Commonwealth of Kentucky for $2.7 million, and in 1978, the Kentucky Horse Park, opened to the public, and  became the world's only park dedicated to man's relationship with the horse.  

I was fascinated with the information on the length of thoroughbred strides, that was explained and illustrated, in a public area outside the Visitor Center.  The placard suggested the visitor count the number of steps it takes them to walk a designated distance, then compare their numbers, to the stride length of some famous horses.  Since I am an avid step counter, aiming for at least 10,000 steps per day, I learned that 10,000 strides by a thoroughbred would go miles farther than 10,000 of my steps!

It is not surprising that the horse statue in front of the Visitor Center, is painted a bright blue (as in Kentucky being the BLUEgrass state), and showed the number of jobs that the equestrian industry provides in the state.  Remember that the Kentucky Horse Park is owned by the state government, so job numbers is a statistic they track.  Recent estimates indicate there are over 60,000 jobs in Kentucky that are related to the equestrian field.  The data also shows that the annual economic impact of the equestrian industry in Kentucky is about $6.5 billion. 

Horse racing aficionados are quite familiar with the name Secretariat, but for those who cannot remember, a plaque on the way to the Secretariat memorial will refresh their memory.   

Another plaque tells who the sculptor is, of the legendary thoroughbred champion, Secretariat.

The landscaping of the sidewalk leading to the Man O War statue, magnifies the importance of this steed in equestrian history.  

For those who many have forgotten, Man O War was a dominant competitor in the early 20th century, who won most of his races, including setting a record at the Belmont Stakes  

Another plaque in this area honors Isaac Burns Murphy, who was born into slavery in Clark County, Kentucky, in  1861.  He went on to become one of the greatest riders in American Thoroughbred horse racing history.  He won three runnings of the Kentucky Derby, and was the first jockey to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, at its creation in 1955.

Memorial plaque at burial site of famous horse.  

Very close to the Visitor Center, one will see this building for the U.S. Equestrian Association.

Since the building is open to the public, I took the opportunity to see what was inside:

Glass-covered trophy cases line the entire side of one wall in the spacious lobby.

I found out I am not the only one that has a horse harness hanging on the wall!  The difference in mine and those behind glass at this location, is that mine was just worn by a favorite farm horse, whereas these were worn by famous competition horses! 

 

My husband and I attended some equestrian events at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.  Our event was called "dressage", which is a French word, with the emphasis on the second syllable.  The word evolved from the French verb dresseur, meaning "to train".  Dressage is a discipline that showcases the horse's flexibility and balance, by executing a series of intricate, precise movements.  Upon our return, my husband had a special art piece made, containing a 1996 Equestrian Olympic poster, along with our two Olympic tickets, dated  8 am, July 26, 1996,  Because of that early 8 am start time, we had left our motel about 4 am, because it was an hour away from where we would catch the shuttle at a location in Atlanta, that would take us to the actual venue, at the Georgia International Horse Park, in Conyers, Georgia.  After being on the Interstate towards Atlanta for about 45 minutes, we turned on the radio to find out the weather forecast.  The radio was warning people to STAY AWAY from Atlanta, because there had been a bombing at an Olympic event the night before, and the perpetrator of the bomb was still on the loose.  Since we were almost to our shuttle stop, we continued on, and found out that the events scheduled for that day were still going to be held, but their starting times had been pushed back by several hours, because of greatly increased security screening.  Keep in mind, this was before we were using cell phones, texting, or Internet communication of any kind.  So we stood in line at the only pay telephone booth available, for a very long time, so we could call our family members back in Arkansas, to let them know we were okay, and had not been at the location where the bomb went off.  It was a most memorable experience!

Having actually attended the 1996 Olympic equestrian event, I was delighted to see that one of the items on display behind glass, was the clothing worn by one of the winning participants, as well as medals from the event.

According to wikipedia, the tradition of wearing white trousers in the dressage competition, dates back to a time when only aristocrats could participate in the sport, and they did not have to be concerned about doing any kind of manual labor that would get their trousers soiled.  

This facility also had a gift shop, and I enjoyed perusing the items available for purchase there.

Seeing these medals in their shadowbox display cases, reminded me of a church youth retreat I attended in the 1960's in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Walmart founders, Sam and Helen Walton, opened up their expansive home for the girls in the group, to spend the night in their home.  I remember Mrs. Walton showing us the room of their daughter, Alice Walton, and the room being full of ribbons and medals that Alice Walton had won at equestrian events.  

Look at this lovely souvenir available in the gift shop:

If one wanted sweet dreams of being horseback riding, perhaps this souvenir pillow, painted with all the symbols of the sport, would cause one to "gallop off" into dream land!

One of the sales staff at the gift shop offered to take my photo with one of the little black hats, like the competitors wear.  What do you think?

USEF (www.usef.org) is the abbreviation for the United States Equestrian Federation, which serves as the National Governing Body for Equestrian Sport.  The federation trains, selects, and funds the US Equestrian Team, which includes the team at the Olympic Games.  When I was visiting the Kentucky Horse Park, the USEF Pony Finals were being held, and I had the opportunity to observe young people who had their sights set on Olympic glory.

Folks are familiar with "crossing guards" near elementary schools to protect children, and here at Kentucky Horse Park, there are dozens of "crossing guards" to protect horses that are crossing roads in front of cars and/or golf carts.

Rolex is a major sponsor at the USEF Pony Finals, and the Rolex stadium was buzzing with activity, in preparation for the day's events.  

Now you know one reason that Rolex watches are so expensive---they have to help pay for this fancy equestrian stadium!  When one considers the cost of having a horse, boarding a horse, and traveling to equestrian events around the country, it is easy to understand why this is such an elite sport!  The year I got to visit the Olympic village in Calgary, Canada, I remember my guide pointing out some members of the royal family of a European country, who were also in the Olympic village, because they had competed in Olympic Equestrian events.  

If you are a person who enjoys seeing, riding, or learning about horses, you will enjoy a visit to the Kentucky Horse Park.  My visit there gave me "MILES OF SMILES!" Tricia