WE LOVE AMERICA -KENTUCKY

After a night in Louisville, we headed into Kentucky and to Lexington. We stopped at a visitor's center just over the border and were given a map for a scenic road that took us past the renowned blue grass horse farms. As we left the freeway and entered this magical country we were astounded at the beauty. In Bob's words, "Be still my beating heart!" The farms stretched for acres and acres with neat white or brown fences defining expansive, manicured fields of green grass. On hills overlooking the fields were large barns and homes built of limestone blocks with cupolas on top. Often the barns were larger than the homes and reflected the deep interest and concern the people have for their prize horses . In the fields were beautiful horses of all imaginable colors, peacefully grazing. We saw sorrels, bays, greys, blacks, dappled, pinto and they all looked healthy, vigorous and magnificent. The grassy fields had the appearance of having been maintained and carefully tended by major league baseball groundskeepers. For the horses, it seemed as if God had spread his choicest part of the earth at their hooves.



Notice this beautiful, large barn/stable and the expensive, large training racetrack. Even the barn is better landscaped than many homes I have seen.



Our pictures do not do justice to the majesty of what we were viewing.



Along we drove, exclaiming on the beauty and wonder of what we were seeing. We came to the Kentucky Horse Park, a place where visitors can see prize-winning horses, an entertaining show of different breeds of horses and learn about the history of horses in Kentucky, how they are cared for and their impact on our society. Even today, they play a significant role in our country, for both pleasure, racing, etc. We spent a couple of wonderful hours in the park.



This picture confirms that we have been horsing around on this trip! This was taken at the Kentucky Horse Farm. It was developed on a significant part of one of the large horse farms in the area. It is very well done with displays, a museum and gift shop, dressage field, race track, etc. We gained a much better appreciation for this part of the country and the marvelous horse history it has.



As we concluded our visit to the KHP, we sat in a hexagonal arena and were treated to videos of famous horse races. The races were exciting and the horses awesome. After each video, a groom led into the arena the actual horse that raced, now retired and living comfortably at the park. These beautiful animals have performed as the animal athletes they really are and have earned their retirement.
After that show, we went to another arena and were treated to the "Parade of Breeds". They brought out five different horses and told us of their history and importance. The Morgan Horse is the first true American breed and is not a large horse, but very strong and fast. Today they are used by the National Forest Service and many police departments. We were shown a miniature horse then a Chincoteague pony, an Andalusian or pure bred Arabian and finally a special breed called a Spanish Norman horse, seen above.
We loved the Kentucky Horse Park and loved the horse country of Kentucky and the Lexington area. It would be so easy to live in this area just to be in such beautiful country. This whole nation is too wonderful to describe adequately and we are impressed with the gift God has given to this people. I hope we can continue to demonstrate our gratitude to our Father in Heaven.