The Kentucky Horse Park

Tuesday, 10 April 2007

Today was simply an amazing day. First off, after driving through Ohio in the snow yesterday, today was perfect weather wise. It was sunny, in the low 60’s, very little wind and only a few passing high clouds. After breakfast, our first and only sight seeing stop of the day was the Kentucky Horse Park. Boy, this was the stop of a lifetime for our horse loving daughter!

After seeing ponies, miniature horses and a couple of saddle bred horses, we headed off to let her try her first ever trail ride. The minimum requirements were 7 years old and at least 4 feet tall. Well, she’s 7 ½ and just barely 4 feet tall…just right for going all by herself on the trail horses instead of just a pony ride in a corral.

Because she was the smallest rider, she was first in line behind the lead horse. I don’t think I will ever forget the eager anticipation and the light in her eyes as I told her she could go on a trail ride. To someone with horses, or little interest in equines, this may not be an activity of interest. But to my little girl, this was the world. This was something very special to her, and I’m glad we had the chance to do this.

While she rode, the other kids played on the playground. In no time, they were all either thirsty or hungry, so I headed out to the car to bring back refreshments. Well, I didn’t go straight to the car. I snuck off to the gift shop on my way out to the car. If you promise not to tell, I’ll tell you what I got for her birthday. Promise? I got her a Kentucky Horse Park t-shirt, a Clydesdale foal figurine, and a bracelet with her name. Her birthday isn’t until this summer, but I bet she will be surprised!

Other things we saw while we were at the horse park: the Breed Barn (over 40 different breeds in stalls on display), the Mare/Foal paddocks (they had a 1 week old foal, but mom and baby were in the barn and we didn’t get to see them), the Big Barn (170 stalls in one barn), and the Draft Horse Barn (pairs of different breeds of draft horses for pulling the carriages for rides around the park). By that time, the kids were exhausted, so we left. There was much more to see, and if we lived closer, I’m sure we would go again and again. It was just beautiful.

The drive through Kentucky was gorgeous. Imagine the rolling hills covered with Kentucky bluegrass and sectioned off with miles of white fencing, dotted with horses and punctuated by the bright white spires of country churches. It really was a sight to see.

As we continued our drive, we entered the Daniel Boone National Forest. There is such a stark difference between this forest and the evergreen forests I’m used to on the west coast. Instead of the deep forest green of various pines, I saw the earthy tones of deciduous trees on the verge of bursting into their spring finery. While the primary color was the darker browns, grays and whites of tree branches, it was softly colored with the ever so tiny buds of spring.

As we continued east, more and more trees were either in bloom or about to bud. The vibrant white of the dogwood tree was the first thing I noticed, followed by the fresh purple of the redbud trees. What an awesome sight to see!

We decided to go for the long haul tonight to make tomorrow a shorter day. Mile after mile of twisty mountain highway greeted us as we pushed to make it to our destination. We finally made it to Staunton, Virginia near midnight. We were all glad to be there and to climb into bed.