Boxing Day at the The Horse Park

Boxing Day was spent at The Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.  It is a beautiful place, huge expanse of pastures, numerous arenas, and fantastic museums. If you are in the area, I definitely recommend a visit, but maybe not on the day after Christmas because it was chilly and a bit of a ghost town.  My next visit will be during one of their events.  Check them out http://kyhorsepark.com/

They had several magnificent bronze statues scattered throughout the park.

The real horses were all sporting their winter coats and wearing blankets… and for some reason, rolling in the mud!  They were covered in dirt! I’m sure their groomers were happy with this.  

 

The horses were all quite friendly too, at every pasture, as soon as I approached the fence, they would trot up to see what I had for them.  Don’t ask me the proper etiquette at a horse farm, but they seemed to think that it was perfectly reasonable to expect treats from guests. 

I didn’t have any carrots or apples, so I just patted them on the nose and took their picture, which seemed okay with them as well.

And, of course, no barn would be complete without a cat standing guard.

Christmas Day Hike

Merry Christmas! It was a chilly, gray day in Northern KY so what better way to celebrate the holidays than with a hike.  Fabulous fresh air… plus I needed to burn off a few of those cookies. 

From my viewpoint along the ridge on my hike, it seemed as though The Mighty Ohio River had broken its banks!  Well, no real worries, from where this picture was taken at Shawnee Lookout Park, the river is supposed to break the bank. The river is usually just under the vehicle bridge (I-275) in the background, not under the train bridge too.  This is the first time that I’ve seen the ground below the train bridge submerged. Now, just to the west of I-275 in Indiana, the ground stays wet for most of the year.  It is where the Great Miami River flows into the Ohio River and forms a natural wetland known as The Oxbow.  I’m told this is a birder’s paradise… it’s on my list of places to visit in the spring, though with my camera I’m not too hopeful of capturing any spectacular bird pictures. 

 

Bird enthusiasts, check out The Oxbow: http://www.oxbowinc.org/index.html .