The final location we visited while on vacation was Lexington, about 75 miles east of Louisville. Lexington is horse country, where some of the most famous racehorses and horse farms are located, and horses is what we went to see. We had initially intended to spend one day in Lexington visiting both the Kentucky Horse Park and the Thoroughbred Center but at the last minute decided that was too much for one day and did each of those activities on there own separate day. We also spent a decent amount of time driving around Lexington looking at all of the beautiful countryside and horse farms. There are some really amazing country roads where everywhere you look is green grass, white fences, and horses.
Kentucky Horse Park
The Kentucky Horse Park is basically a huge park devoted to all things horse. Admission was $16/adult, $8/child, 6 and under were free. There are pony rides and if you are over 7 years old you can do basic horseback rides. Horseback riding was $22 for a 35 minute trail ride. Pony rides were $5 per ride. There are also some horse shows, a horse museum, and a huge area where they do competitions and exhibitions. While we were there they were having some kind of horse jumping competition. The pony rides were, of course, a huge hit for the girls. The rides were a bit better than your average pony ride in that they were longer and your pony is pulled along by a guide as opposed to all being connected and rotating in a circle together. You can't get in line whenever you feel like it, though. They have slotted times when pony rides begin and they can potentially sell out, all though we were told that rarely happens. There is a playground located adjacent to the pony rides which is a good place to kill time while you're waiting for the pony rides to start. We also saw two shows. One featured retired champions - horses that had won the Kentucky Derby or other big races. The other show was called the Parade of Breeds and showed different breeds of horses with costumed riders. After this show the audience was encouraged to come down and pet the horses. The girls were able to enjoy both shows but definitely preferred the second one. The Park is huge, so I highly recommend a stroller, good walking shoes, and snacks. Because of the timing of the shows and activities we kind of had to rush from one place to another while carrying our children. It ultimately ended up being a hot and tiring day but a lot of fun and a great opportunity to see and interact with a lot of horses.
Thoroughbred Center
This facility ended up being a surprise hit. For me it was one of the best things we did on vacation and we almost didn't do it. The Thoroughbred Center only offers tours once a day a 9 am. They are kind of expensive for a family at $15/adult and $8/child. The Center takes advanced reservations but they weren't necessary for us on a Wednesday in August. Our original plan was to do this tour first and then go to the Horse Park, which is only a few miles away. It ended up being really hot that day so we thought the two outdoor activities would be too much and thought the girls would enjoy the Horse Park more since all they could talk about was going on pony rides. I also knew that to see anything at the Thoroughbred Center we would have to take another tour and I kind of thought the girls were done with tours. I was completely wrong and so glad we decided to drive back out to Lexington on our last day of vacation.
The Thoroughbred Center is a training facility for race horses. During racing season, which I guess is basically all year in Kentucky, the Center can house up to 1,000 horses. The horses live and train there and then travel to their races as they come up. The tour that is offered here is very laid back. You get in a bus and are driven to the track (it is right there - really you could walk there) where you get to stand up at the fence for a while and watch the horses exercise. The exercise track is open from about 5 am until 11 am. Each horse only exercises for about 15 minutes a day, which I guess is enough time to keep them in shape for their races. They are also able to practice with the starting gate. While watching the horses exercise the tour guide provides lots of interesting information about how the facility is run and answers any questions but if you want to tune here out completely and watch the horses (which is what the girls did) it's not a big deal. You basically move on when everyone is ready to go. The horses were pretty amazing to watch (and the girls loved that some came over to say hi). Then our guide drove us over to one of the barns where they keep horses and we had the opportunity to talk to a trainer. He only had one horse stabled there at the time and said he had plenty of time to answer any questions that our group had. The tour was very informal and laid back but very informative. It was really interesting to be able to get so close to race horses and see what is involved in their training.
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