Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky

Helen and I are situated in a truly beautiful campground ... all 1250 acres of Kentucky Horse Park Campground. The park will be taken over by 10s of 1000s in August when the WORLD EQUESTRIAN EVENT is held in the 1000 acre Kentucky Horse Park next door. It is the first time this event has been held in America. The security will be enormous. It is absolutely sold out. Our retired volunteer driver who took us to the Horse Park from the campground told us his usual "vacation" in August had been cancelled. He came to Kaintuck in 2000 from Pennsylvania.

It has been a very sunny, hot, humid and shirt soaking day. A perfect day to sit on the veranda of My Old Kentucky Home and sip a mint julep. However, we just walked and walked and drank lots of water.

Today we spent a fabulous time at the horse park, beginning with a visit to Man of War's gravesite. When a great horse dies, often they will only bury the important parts of the horse -- its head, heart and hoofs, but Man of War, considered by many the greatest race horse ever, was embalmed whole and buried under this statue of him:
We enjoyed an informative tour in a wagon drawn by two Belgian draft horses:
Many other sites in the park are very interesting and informative, including the farrier (blacksmith) shop, the museum, the exhibition on loan from Saudia Arabia, the carriage shop, the breeders barn, etc. One of my favorites was a visit to the Hall of Champions where four of the greatest race horses still living are housed. We got up close and personal with Cigar and Funny Cide. Here they are in that order: We concluded our four hour visit by watching the Parade of Breeders in which various breeds were ridden into the arena by riders dressed like the era or country where the horse was famous:
Chincoteague Paint, Percheron, Arabian and Fresian! Magnificent animals!
Tomorrow it's on to northern Michigan to prepare the family compound for all who are arriving in July for Helen's mom's graveside service (ashes).