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KENTUCKY, WHERE THE HORSE IS KING

Lexington, Ky.- Well, there's no mistaking where we are. Velvety pastures around the airport are divided by miles of white plank fencing. It's a matter of minutes before we are face to face with our first horse. Horse trailers rather than transports pass us on the highway. And soon we are flanked by prosperous looking horse farms that look far too neat and clean to be real....

Our destination this day is the Kentucky Horse Park, roughly 16 km north of town. Opened in the late 1970s, this is not a theme park with horsey rides as the name might imply. Basically it is an educational centre where people who ordinarily have little contact with horses can learn what magnificent beasts they are. Local competitors come here to test their horses on the tracks, in the dressage arena and stadium. It is home to more than 30 different breeds of horses. In fact, just about everything you could possibly want to know about horses is told through visual art, modern technology, exhibits and movies. Then, if you want to get even closer, you can ride a horse on trails cut through the bluegrass....