The last place we visited was Lexington, Kentucky. This has been the place that my Mom and I have wanted to visit for years and the reason for this trip. We love horses. The Kentucky Horse Park is not just about horse racing but any thing to do with horses. From horse jumping, to events in rodeos, to cutting, to carriage driving, dressage, cross country and so on. It is a huge park with the largest horse barn in the world. Another part of the Horse park is where owners have loaned their horses to the park to educate people about the different types of breeds and there is also a Hall of Champions. The very best of the best horses in there event. There hasn't been a champion add in 12 years.
We got there when the park opened and was able to see the park "wake up". Horses were getting feed, washed, brushed, and out for morning exercise.
This baby and I became friends. May be a future champion!!
This park is also full of sculptures and statues. This was my favorite.
After touring the horse park we went on a tour of the horse farms. This was very educational. I am sure most of you have heard of the Kentucky Derby Horse Race. In order for a horse to race in the Kentucky Derby the horse has to have a parent that was bred in Kentucky. So we got to see babies and yearlings. These are all bred for horse racing and most will be sold to different farms to be trained. To future Kentucky Derby winners!!
The video below is the yearling above playing around. It isn't very long because I caught just the end but We all loved the look of this yearling.These farms are huge and everything is split up. You have the babies that have been weaned in one pasture. Then you have the girl yearlings in one and the boys in another. There is a barn for the mothers and the stallion have there own. There is also the breeding shed plus everyone who works on the farm lives on the farm. These places are huge. So the building in the first picture that looks like a house is actually the stud barn. Pretty nice.
The building below is the breding barn. I didn't get a picture of the actually owners house but to say the least it was very nice. The weird thing is that the owners are usually only in residence for 3 months out the year for the racing season. I wouldn't mind house sitting :)
We were able to see some of the studs which a lot of people do not see except those working on the farms because the stallions are actually very fragile and since their main purpose is to bred the next round of champions if they are resting the handlers will not mess with them.
The stallion above brings in $10,000 a day and the stallion below brings in $50,000 a day.
The building below is the breding barn. I didn't get a picture of the actually owners house but to say the least it was very nice. The weird thing is that the owners are usually only in residence for 3 months out the year for the racing season. I wouldn't mind house sitting :)
We were able to see some of the studs which a lot of people do not see except those working on the farms because the stallions are actually very fragile and since their main purpose is to bred the next round of champions if they are resting the handlers will not mess with them.
The stallion above brings in $10,000 a day and the stallion below brings in $50,000 a day.Wish I had that kind of paycheck :)
We went to one farm that had a father to a horse that won 2 out of the 3 races for the Triple Crown and brings in 1.6 million a day.
We went to one farm that had a father to a horse that won 2 out of the 3 races for the Triple Crown and brings in 1.6 million a day.I absolutely loved my 2 weeks in October. I had a great adventure and hopefully was able to capture it on film so everyone could come along with me. Now it is time to plan the next adventure and figure out what to blog about now :)
