All about Horses and Home

There was only one thing on the agenda before we head for home.  We had a Thoroughbred Horse Farm Tour scheduled at 8:30 a.m.  It was a three-hour ride, through what we would learn on the tour, about several of the more than 400 horse farms around Lexington.  Thoroughbred horse racing and the supporting jobs and supplies makes up over 50% of the economy of Kentucky.  Only thing larger is the bourbon industry.  95% of all bourbon is made in Kentucky.  Our guide told us that Kentucky is the perfect place for thoroughbred horses because there is an abundance of limestone here.  Limestone contains calcium and the water that seeps through that limestone absorbs that calcium.  The calcium in the horses' drinking water helps build strong bones and robust stamina which is critical to thoroughbred horses.

This gentleman is Daniel our guide.  For the three hour tour, he talked about race horses, Lexington, and so much more that we became overwhelmed with info and he did it in a fun way.  He retired from the post office and has been a guide for 11 years.  Before this tour, my knowledge of thoroughbred horses was what I saw when I watched the Kentucky Derby and the following two races of the Triple Crown. There is so much more and Daniel opened up that world to us. 

As we drove around the farms, we saw the beautiful gates and homes behind those gates that some of the farms had.

We learned about the fences that surrounded the farms and horse pastures.  Originally the fences were painted white but over the years, they are mostly black.  Some have not repainted them and new fences are black.  The miles and miles of fences are expensive to maintain but they are less expensive if they are not repainted to keep white.  Also some fences are four board high and some are three high.  The number of boards tell you the kind of horse that is kept behind those fences.  If it is four high, stallions are in that pasture; three high contain brood mares and colts.  The reason:  three high allow more space between boards because the babies are curious and poke their heads between the boards.  Their heads will fit between a three-board fence and not get caught.

The fences around this tree (and sometimes several trees) in the pasture

 is there for a purpose.  When thunderstorm come in with thunder and lightening, the horses want to stand under the trees to avoid the rain.  It has happened that lightening would strike the tree and hurt the horse standing under it.  The fences keep the horses from standing under the trees in the pastures.   

We saw miles of stone fences surrounding the farm homes.  We learned that they were built in the 1800's when Scotch-Irish immigrants lived in the area.  They were  experts in stone fence building and were hired to built these fences.  The fences are built in the typical masonry style of the countries they came from without a filler to hold the stones together.  The top capstones are set vertical against each other and are called "soldier" because they protect the rest of the stones.

Not all thoroughbred farms own horses that they race.  Some are like Rose Hill whose focus is on providing care for boarding, foaling and prepping and breaking young horses not racing them.

Keeneland is the world's most prominent thoroughbred auction house for horses.  It also has a racetrack where a series of race are held two time a year. 

Here we are in their starting gate.

Entrance to the Keeneland Complex.

As races at Keeneland are run and won, the silks of the winning horse is painted on these jockeys and the name of the horse and race it won painted on the sign.  

It is hard to see but the shrubs are trimmed to spell out Keeneland.

In the grandstand are several reserved boxes.  Carol is sitting in the box of Mr. and Mrs. Antony Beck who own Gainesway Farm, a historic stallion station and breeding farm.

We saw several horses doing their early morning workouts.

The bloodline of every thoroughbred horse today can be traced to three foundation horses:  Darley Arabian, Godolpohin Arabian, and Byerley Turk.  Every horse at birth is assigned a number which is imprinted in the lower inside lip of the horse.  It is not tattooed but stamped with some kind of special ink.  The name of the horse can be no longer than 18 letters which includes blank spaces.  That is why sometimes the name of the horse will be two or three words running together to form one word.  Spaces were removed to keep the name within the 18 letter limit.

The Kenneland race track.

The dirt of this track came from a combination of dirt from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

  In years past and experimental surface comprised of shredded tires, ground carpet fibers, and wax was tried.  It was called polytrack.  Some trainers like it because it is an all weather track.  Some horses running on that surface developed leg tendon problems so most tracks have returned to the original dirt track.

Here is a mommy and her baby.  We saw lots of babies with their moms.

The 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystic Dan was foaled at this farm.  We saw his mom in one of the stables we visited.

The horse trainer Ken McPeek owns and operates Magdalena Farm

 and trained Derby winner Mystic Dan.  I think he spells his last name incorrectly...it should be McPeak like my grandparents Osa and Lola McPeak spell theirs.

It was lunchtime at Magdalena Farms.  Some of the horses were patient and some were not so patient and showed that impatience by whinnying and using their hooves to kick the walls of their stall.

One of those horses was very patient and allowed us to pet him.

Greys are my favorite.

If you could read the name on the halter, you would see that his name is VV's Dream.

  We really enjoyed the tour and know much more about the sport of thoroughbred horse racing. One other interesting thing we learned is that most horses are cremated minus their head, heart, and feet.  The head is kept because of the horse's knowledge; the heart because of it's courage, and the feet because of it's speed.  Two horses have been kept intact and are buried standing up and they are Secretariat and Seattle Slew, both Triple Crown winners.  Both are buried in the Lexington area.

This bridge took us from Kentucky to Indiana and finally to Illinois. The skies looked very dark and the weather forecast was for heavy thunderstorms.  We did drive though some heavy rain but not for very long.  After we got home we found out that most of Kentucky had been drenched with heavy rains.  We got home about 6:00 p.m. and quickly unpacked so we could relax.

God and the natural world He created has been showing off this year and we are glad we have been able to experience it.  First, it was the total eclipse of the sun; next. it was being able to see the Northern Lights here in Illinois, and lastly, the cicada invasion.  We have enjoyed the last two weeks of travel without the sounds and smells of  the cicadas.  As soon as we stepped out of the car, we heard and smelled them.  We wished we were still traveling!

This trip was different in many ways.  We were only gone two week in the spring as opposed to 4-6 weeks in the fall. We did not take our motorhome; instead,  drove our car.  Although we did see some national parks and beautiful scenery, the main purpose of this trip was to watch our beautiful granddaughter graduate from high school.  Mission accomplished.  Katie Rose Enid graduated on May 18 as we proudly watched.  We stayed in motels with the exception of one night each at my sister's and  a good friend from high school.  Traveling by car and taking less time may be our new way to travel.  We have decided not to use the motorhome to travel except short trips within this state.  After more than 50 years of camping, we feel the time has come for us to hang up our camping shoes.  We have enjoyed those 50 years but in this season of our lives, we need to travel an easier way.  We don't want to stop traveling; just do it in a different way.  We do have reservations at our usual fall state park so I guess we won't totally give up camping.  We are just making some modifications.  

Leaving West Virginia

 We are sad to say that we had to leave West Virginia this morning.  We both think this is a beautiful state and would like to return and travel on the backroads.

This was the beautiful sunrise.

Final morning mist picture in West Virginia.  

Can you see the New River Bridge in the distance?

This was at the entrance of the park.  We didn't notice it when we came into the park Thursday evening.

This picture and the three that follow were taken as we drove west on US 60.  Around every corner was a stone outcropping and beautiful sight.

The picture below is of the Great Kanawha River and the old piers.  Route 60 goes through the town of Gauley Bridge.

Notice how close the homes and businesses are to the highway.

Town of Gauley Bridge

This train was carrying coal from the few coal mines of West Virginia that are still operational.  We saw several closed mines along Route 60.

I enlarged the picture of the dome of the capitol at  Charleston to show the intricate beauty of the dome.

 

The capitol building of Charleston.  It sits close to I-77/I-64.  As you are driving west, you come around a curve in the highway and there is the dome.  Normally, I would only have a quick shot of the capitol building but this one remains in your view for awhile.

  

This bridge crosses the Great Kanawha River in Charleston.  Interstate I-64/I-77 crosses these bridges which are painted gold and blue (WVA's colors) to honor the state's most well known citizen, Chuck Yeager.  

When we left Hawk's Nest State Park, we only had 200 miles to the last motel of the trip in Winchester, Kentucky.  Tomorrow morning we are taking a thoroughbred horse farm tour in Lexington.  We drove to the hotel we are to meet for the tour so we would know how long it would take for us to drive there.  Because we had extra time (couldn't check into our room until 3:00 p.m.), we sat in the parking lot and relaxed.  I read and Carol looked at Facebook.  Now we are relaxing in our motel.  It was a nice day in which we did not have to hurry.  We really enjoyed being in West Virginia and would like to come back just to drive the winding, scenic roads.