The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide • The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2026 • Horses

Horse shows and races, farms and stables, riding trails and campgrounds, museums dedicated to the horse, plus exhibits, experiences, artwork and more. Some might conclude that we’re “ate up” with horses here in Kentucky — and they’d be right. Kentucky’s horse heritage and culture are as deeply rooted as the seeds that sow the bluegrass and as elemental as the limestone that helps produce strong horses. In a word, it's everything.

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is a showcase for the original works of over 850 artists, plus special exhibits and Kentucky cuisine served in the café. Among the treasures: horse-themed masterpieces in scratch board, oils and pastels, and sculpted in alabaster and bronze.

With a 1.25-mile dirt track modeled after New York’s Saratoga Race Course and a cheeky nickname (the Pea Patch) for the infield’s past use as a soybean field, Ellis Park Racing & Gaming offers live summer thoroughbred racing and year-round simulcasting and gaming machines.

Hear the clip-clop of horses’ hooves? Take a step back in time in the South Fork Creek Amish and Mennonite Community, with horse and buggies on the back roads, along with tack shops, bakeries, country markets, and garden, produce, furniture and antique stores.

Safari into the beautiful Appalachian Mountains along old coal haul roads on a two-to three-hour guided tour in search of herds of horses roaming free across yesteryear coal-mining land. Learn about area history and culture and how the Appalachian Horse Project cares for these horses.

Grab a chair at Balance Distilling Company and watch the horses cavort in the fields of this rustic small-farm distillery operating out of a barn and offering tastings, including Mammoth Cave Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, a legacy brand originally created in 1869.

Experience the stunning beauty, rugged remoteness and unique geological formations of Natural Bridge State Park and Red River Gorge, with thousands of acres of pristine wilderness, on a 45- to 60-minute guided horseback tour with family-owned and -operated Cable's Riding Stables.

Sip craft cocktails beneath a beautiful equestrian-themed ceiling mural in a bar named after a winning wager on a horse named Knowledge. North by Hotel Covington’s Knowledge Bar & Social Room also pays tribute to Kentucky’s horse-racing heritage through a salon-style montage of paintings and photographs.

A year-round hideaway for horse and rider, Wranglers Campground at Land Between the Lakes has all the amenities — 100 miles of scenic horse and wagon trails, camping sites, horse stalls and the Outpost for provisioning. Imagine yourself rustling up supper over the campfire.

Tucked in the 400-acre Logan Hubble Memorial Park and nature preserve is a campground with tie-outs for horses and corral-panel stalls, 10 miles of wooded trails and open fields for riding, and amenities including a lake and playgrounds.

Guided rides on Whisper Valley Trails’ rescue horses take horse lovers into the southern tip of Red River Gorge, with sandstone cliff faces rising up on both sides of the trail, past five waterfalls and across a creek.

Find a gentle introduction to horseback riding at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park Horse Stables. Amble onto the trails and into the forest at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park on scenic, guided trail rides that are fun for both beginners and more experienced riders.

Bring your horse to Pike County Horse Trails for a rugged ride deep into the mountains surrounding Pikeville, the site of the Hatfields and McCoys feud. You’ll find miles of trails in a looped trail system, primitive camping and picnic areas.

Unleash your inner cowpoke on 250-plus acres of Kentucky backcountry, riding wooded trails over hills, along creeks and beneath leafy canopies, spotting turkey, fox and deer as you go. Whispering Woods Riding Stables has horses, plus a petting zoo, playground and tack shop.

Saddle up at Double J Stables and Horseman’s Campground, adjacent to Mammoth Cave National Park (and the only independently owned ranch authorized for horseback rides into the park), and access the 85-plus mile trail system from the stable’s own trailhead. Guided trail rides are offered.

Bordered by Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park, the family-owned and operated Circle T Ranch offers guided horseback rides year-round that are especially beautiful when the forested trails are set ablaze by the reds, oranges and yellows of fall.

Get an insider’s peek into Kentucky horse culture and the life of a thoroughbred on personalized and interactive tours to historical breeding farms, nurseries, racehorse adoption facilities, training and retraining centers, film locations and other venues with Horse Country tours.

World-class live horseracing, spring and fall meets, beautiful and immaculate grounds, self-guided and guided tours, watching morning workouts, digging into a hearty breakfast at the iconic Track Kitchen, exclusive merch in the gift shop — Keeneland is all this and a National Historic Landmark.

In the Farm Tour Capital of Kentucky, experience the life of a racehorse through immersive tours of historical Hermitage Farm, Highpointe Training Farm, Second Stride Retired Horse Farm, TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall and Hallmark® film fave Windy Meadows Horse Farm

Pulse-pounding simulcast thoroughbred horse racing and hundreds of state-of-the-art historical racing machines, plus restaurants, bars and entertainment — find it all at the new Owensboro Racing & Gaming. Located less than 40 miles from Ellis Park, with rewards earned and used interchangeably.

Step into the world of racing legends at Old Friends thoroughbred retirement farm. Walk alongside Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm, Big Brown, I’ll Have Another and other champions on one-of-a-kind, interactive tours, including an exclusive 90-minute private tour with founder Michael Blowen.

An equine venue that has no equal in the world: Kentucky Horse Park is home to the comprehensive, interactive International Museum of the Horse, live horse shows, trolley tours, the Kids Barn, Stall-Side Chats, horseback and pony rides, a campground, cafés and gift shop.

Enjoy live thoroughbred horse racing on America’s only European-style (all turf), kidney-shaped racecourse at Kentucky Downs, which is also home to the Mint Gaming Hall, featuring more than 1,000 gaming machines, a calendar full of live music concerts, the Irons Steakhouse and a gift shop.

Witness the exquisite grace and athleticism of the American Saddlebred at Shelby County’s Dogwood Classic Horse Show (held two weekends before the Kentucky Derby and overlapping Shelbyville’s annual Dogwood Festival) and the Shelby County Summer Classic (formerly the Shelbyville Horse Show), held over four mid-summer days.

At Claiborne Farm — home of the legendary Secretariat — the guided walking and shuttle tour experiences go next level with the Private Stallion tour. Walk the grounds with friends and family, interact with the stallions and tour the breeding shed and cemetery where the world’s greatest racehorse is buried.

Hats and horses, Twin Spires and traditions — and the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports®: The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. There’s no other sporting event like it or the weekslong party leading up to it. Learn more at the Kentucky Derby Museum’s immersive exhibits and tours.

The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide - The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2026

Horses

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The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2026

The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2025

The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2024

The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2023