Lexington Kentucky is the horse capitol of the U.S.
The horse capitol of the U.S. is a place I want to be.
The Kentucky Horse Park is a state-owned and managed public park dedicated to all things horses.
It’s amazing and it happens to include a campground adjacent to the horse grounds. Dreams do come true.
Our timing was a bit off for witnessing any horse-related events. Our timing was very good for our campsite’s back lawn to be a drive-through lights show. Looking out our bedroom window after dark was almost my favorite part of staying at this campground.
Almost because of horses. Horses always win for me. And when you camp at Kentucky Horse Park, you have walking access to acres of rolling pasture chock full of horses and all the accouterments that come with elite-level horses. Miles of cross-country course. The enormous Rolex arena. Barns on barns on barns. Free roving barn cats.
I met Funny Cide, who resides at Kentucky Horse Park. He allowed me to feed him a mint out of my hand into his royal horse mouth.
Funny Cide!
We spent most of a day wandering around the Kentucky Horse Park’s public showcases. We met draft horses, unique horse breeds, champion racehorses, and police horses. It was glorious.
Running from the horse park’s campground was awesome. There is a paved public trail that runs to the far edge of the horse park to the city of Lexington. While torrential rains during our stay flooded access for the trail into the city, we enjoyed miles of running on the edge of the Kentucky Horse Park.
We popped into the city of Lexington several times. Did some holiday shopping. Stumbled upon a full-fronted Ariat shop (whhhhatttt?! Amazing). Found and ate delicious tacos at Local Taco.
We noted that not only does Lexington have a proper appreciation of horses and horse culture (horse paraphernalia EVERYWHERE!), the drivers in Lexington are patient and kind. Weird flex, but honestly – it was notable. Fellow drivers permitted easy merging and drove like normal, non-angry people. When you’re always the ‘new guys’ in town and often need to merge later than you would desire due to unfamiliarity with the local traffic patterns – nice drivers are notable.
After a much too short week in Lexington, it’s time for us to scoot along to Cincinnati to prepare for the Christmas holiday. Oh, and also to transition to a new rig. More on that next time.