Kentucky Horse Park: Paradise Found

By Victoria M. Howard

Kentucky Horse Park: Paradise Found is the first complete book written on the #1 horse sanctuary in the United StatesKentucky Horse Park. Ms. Howard takes you behind the scenes as you meet and discover the dozens of unique breeds of horses that call Kentucky Horse Park home. From the most popular, the Arabian, to the rarest breed, the Marwari, you will discover where and when each breed originated.

Also included is an invaluable, superb photo gallery. This book is bound to become a collectors item passed from generation to generation.

Kentucky Horse Park has won an Equus Film Festival Award in New York.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jan 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524659028

Victoria M. Howard

Victoria M. Howard has written and published 25 books in various genres. She has appeared on Fox and Friends, Good Day L.A., Good Morning Sacramento, and several of her books have been mentioned in the New York Times, The Miami Herald, The Pittsburgh Press, and The Huffington Post.Victoria has been a model, horse breeder, and beauty queen who once represented her state in the Mrs. USA Pageant. Today, she is an ordained minister and a Christian bereavement counselor who lives in Delray Beach, Florida, with her dog, Max.Other Christian Books Written By Howard,The Stairway to HeavenVivian and Max: Little Ambassadors for ChristWhispers From GodThe Evolution of V

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© 2017 Victoria M. Howard. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/15/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-5901-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-5903-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-5902-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017900318

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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This book is dedicated to all my four-legged children –past and present— that have brought me joy and happiness and showed me the meaning of unconditional love. One day we will meet again where we can spend eternity together.

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AUTHORS NOTE

The day was Monday, July 11, 2016. It was sunny and quite warm— not unusual weather for that time of year in the Bluegrass state of Kentucky. Although I had visited Lexington several times in my life, I had no idea what I was about to experience.

Having been involved in the horse racing business for decades, I’ve attended many racehorse sales held at Fasig-Tipton, and my broodmares and 4-legged babies are boarded at Ron Mersky’s Green Creek Farm in Paris, Kentucky. I have visited that beautiful area many times but never had the opportunity to see Kentucky Horse Park, until July 11. Yes, the grass is greener (or shall I say blue-greener)– that along with the vigilant care Mr. Mersky administers to my horses is the reason why my kids grow up healthy and strong.

Although I had heard about the Kentucky Horse Park, words cannot begin to delineate the beauty and allure the park emulates. Located throughout the 1,200 plus acres of the park are numerous ponds that accommodate native floating wetlands that help keep the water clean for the graceful swans to frolic in. The ponds are also stocked with numerous species of native fish, which the park graciously invites the public to drop in a line.

As I entered the main doors, a huge bronze sculpture of the famous racehorse Man O’ War greeted me that strategically towers above the Champions grave. Man O’ War, or ‘Big Red’ as he was affectionately called, is arguably the greatest Thoroughbred racehorse of all time and certainly the best in his era. (*see page 4)

But Man O’ War was much more than a racehorse— he was the undisputed King of the Turf. He embodied what a Thoroughbred is supposed to in terms of power, beauty and speed. In 1947, Man O’ War died at the age of thirty of an apparent heart attack, ironically a short time after his long time groom and best friend Will Harbut passed away. Legend has it that the horse was so crestfallen after his caretaker died that he pined away and grieved himself to death. And who can dispute this for it is a known fact that people have died from a proverbial broken heart shortly after losing a loved one.

In the highest honor Man O’ War’s entire body was embalmed and placed in a giant casket lined with his racing colors. Surrounding his burial site at Kentucky Horse Park are the graves of several of his 379 progeny; including War Admiral, War Relic and War Hazard.

When Man O’ War died he was given a funeral fit for a king— a military interment with full honors. Thousands of fans paid their respects by lining up along the funeral route and thousands more listened to the memorial service on national radio.

As I waited at the guest center, I was introduced to the park’s equine operations director. For the next several hours he graciously took time out of his busy day to give me a private tour.

As we walked through the park I encountered several young women and men mounted on unique horses donned in ensembles representing their countries. Each had a story that was worth listening to.

Kentucky Horse Park is a sanctuary that ninety- plus horses call home. The diversified horse breeds come in various shapes, sizes, colors and each have a special purpose that makes them distinctive. There are horses that work with the park’s mounted patrol and draft horses that pull the wagons allowing tourists to experience horse drawn trolley tours. The park also showcases the horse in daily equine presentations like horseback riding and pony rides, a movie presentation, an exciting array of horse shows and special events that are exhibited throughout the day. It is a never-ending display of exceptional and distinctive horses.

Next I encountered a stunning black and white horse that had the strangest looking ears. I was told it was a Marwari—an obscure breed of horse that originates from India. A Marwari is known for its inward- turning ear tips and are descendants from native Indian ponies that crossed with Arabian horses. The mare was a sweet, docile mare that was only too obliging for me to take a selfie with.

My guide then took me to The Big Barn where I was introduced to Connor, a crowd favorite Belgian that stands nineteen hands tall. As I was admiring Connor, I noticed another of the Gentle Giants who was housed in the next stall. The huge horse was grieving, standing in a corner with his head hung down for he had recently lost his partner—another Belgian who was his mate. My guide told me that these horses are like people who select a significant other to share their life with. I was so overtaken with the story that I asked if I could take a photo with the Gentle Giant. Graciously, my guide allowed me to. I walked up to Connor and gently hugged him. As huge as he was (he weighed 1900 pounds) he was just as gentle and loving. I fell in love with the chivalrous steed that day and he will always remain in my heart.

As we were walking to the Hall of Champions to meet several ex-Kentucky Derby winners who would pose for photographs to be used in my book ROSE RUNNERS: The Chronicles of the Kentucky Derby Winners, I encountered a Standardbred racehorse I was familiar with. His official name is Staying Together, but is known as Stanley to his friends at the park. Stanley, a former world record holder, is now blind but has adapted to his handicap and is treated with love and respect from his caretakers.

The Park provides many other things besides stunning horses. Located in the park is a campground, competition facilities, the Rolex and Alltech Stadiums and an International Museum— the most comprehensive museum in the world– dedicated to exploring the history of all horses. The campground has 260 campsites and is a full-service facility; including a grocery store, gift shop, and two bathhouses equipped with modern day conveniences. There is also tennis, basketball and volleyball courts and an Olympic size swimming pool for the campers to enjoy.

Located in the Kentucky Horse Park is The Rolex Stadium—a fabulous place that has provided opportunities for riders of all ages to enjoy games on horseback and to compete internationally. Every year an event called The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day-Event draws hundreds of people around the world to compete and participate in. (More about the Rolex Stadium in chapter 7)

Kentucky Horse Park is unquestionably the leading equestrian facility of its kind and theme park for the American horse industry, as well as the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s leading tourism attraction. It is by far America’s # 1 horse sanctuary that attracts some 800,000 people worldwide every year.

Kentucky Horse Park also provides employment opportunities for hundreds of people. As of the date of this writing there are approximately seventy-seven full-time and forty-three seasonal employees that work for the Kentucky Horse Park itself and approximately four hundred more people who work in various offices of the National Horse Center or as service providers on the grounds.

After visiting Kentucky Horse Park and fraternizing with it’s two and four-legged celebrities, I felt compelled to write a book and share the many wonderful things it has to offer. In this book I will discuss the history of the landowners, the park, and information about the various breeds of horses in residence there. Some of them you are familiar with, such as the Appaloosa and Mustang, while others are rarer such as the Marwari and Gypsy Vanner. Also, there will be short novellas about the Champion Derby winners that call Kentucky Horse Park home.

There is a chapter on the International Museum of the Horse that is located in the park, the priceless Calumet Collection and the superstar horses of Calumet Farm. And last but not least there is a photo gallery with dozens of stunning pictures of the various breeds who call Kentucky Horse Park home.

This book was not only written for horse lovers but for anyone interested in learning a little bit about the history of the land, Kentucky Horse Park, its people, and the many wonderful horses that live there.

Although it is by far America’s finest equine sanctuary, Kentucky Horse Park is much more than a safe haven for horses. There is so much beauty and history in Kentucky Horse Park that I feel blessed and honored to be writing the first book on it. I will try my best to relate what a magical, fascinating and exciting place it is, but words alone cannot do it justice. Hopefully after reading this book your appetite will be whet and you will visit the park and experience it first hand to see why I call it Paradise Found.

Victoria M. Howard

CONTENTS

Authors Note

The History of The Kentucky Horse Park

1   The Four- Legged Champions And Celebrities Of Kentucky Horse Park

Man O’ War

Da Hoss

Funny Cide

Go For Gin

Be A Bono

Mr. Muscleman

Bold Forbes

Staying Together

Won The West

Alysheba

Ch Gypsy Supreme

Ch Imperator

Ch Skywatch

Cam Fella

Cigar

Forego

John Henry

Kona Gold

Rambling Willie

Sgt. Pepper Feature

2   The Breeds Barn

Akhal-Teke

American Miniature Horse

American Morgan Horse

American Mustang

American Paint Horse

American Paso Fino

American Saddlebred

The Andalusian

Appaloosa

Arabian

Chincoteague Pony

English Shire

Fresian

Gypsy Vanner

Hackney Horse

Halfinger

Icelandic

Kiger Mustang

Lippizan

Marwari

Norwegian Fjord

Palomino

Shetland Pony

Tennessee Walking Horse

Welsh Cob

3   The Gentle Giants

Belgian

Clydesdale

Percheron

Suffolk Punch

4   The Kids Barn

Miniature Horses

5   The Mounted Police Horses

6   The International Horse Museum