Kentucky Horse Park

Encyclopedia : K : KE : KEN : Kentucky Horse Park

The Kentucky Horse Park [(web page)] is a working horse farm and an educational theme park located in a rural area of Lexington, Kentucky in the United States. Dedicated to man's relationship with the horse, the Park opened in 1978 and each year since has hosted a large number of special events and horse shows and attracts almost a million visitors annually.

The Kentucky Horse Park has been a retirement home for some of the world’s greatest competition horses including thoroughbreds Cigar, voted Horse of the Decade for the 1990s, John Henry, the top money-winning thoroughbred gelding in racing history, champions Forego, Bold Forbes, and Da Hoss, the only thoroughbred to win two Breeders' Cup races in non-consecutive years.

Besides thoroughbred horses, standardbred greats such as Western Dreamer, Cam Fella and Rambling Willie have made the Kentucky Horse Park their home, as well as 5-gaited Saddlebred gelding CH Gypsy Supreme.

The Kentucky Horse Park also has the International Museum of the Horse--the largest of its kind in the world--and the American Saddlebred Museum. It also holds the National Horse Center, which comprises of the headquarters of several organizations including:

The American Association of Equine Practitioners
The American Farrier's Association
The American Hackney Horse Society
The American Hanoverian Society
The American Saddlebred Horse Association
The Carriage Association of America
Kentucky Horse Racing Authority
Equestrian Events, Inc.
The United States Hunter Jumper Association
The United States Dressage Federation
The US Equestrian Federation
United States Pony Clubs, Inc.

The Horse Park has a twice daily Parade of Breeds, showcasing both common and rare horses from across the globe. The horses are ridden in authentic costume.

In addition, the Horse Park hosts many competitions and educational events throughout the year, including the Rolex Three Day Event, the Pony Club Championships, steeplechases, polo matches, and other horse shows for a variety of breeds and disciplines.

Every year from one week after Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, the Kentucky Horse Park features a drive-through Christmas lights display called "Southern Lights". The night before official opening (the Wednesday after Thanksgiving) they host a fundraiser for local food banks called "Southern Lights Stroll and 5K" where participants can walk or run past the displays rather than driving.

On December 6, 2005, it was announced the Lexington and Kentucky Horse Park will host the 2010 World Equestrian Games. The 2010 games will mark the first time the games have been held outside of Europe. The games are expected to bring 300,000 tourists to Lexington and over $100,000,000 to the Kentucky economy. In preparation for the games, a new indoor equestrian arena and a hotel will be built at the park's site.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.