DRAFT HORSES & MORE at the Kentucky Horse Park! 🤩 

i was the rider on the paso fino!! i absolutely remember having this conversation with you, and it was a joy to chat with you. Thank you for your support because us handlers/riders love these horses like our own(sometimes more lol) and take such pride in our work. I’m glad you had such an amazing time!!

I was the rider on the fjord! I’m so happy to see how much you enjoyed visiting the horse park!

Turk! I know him. I saw him off to Kentucky from Hytyme in Oregon where he was born. Took care of him and Legend at the barn. Really miss Turk and his goofy personality, but he's living the good life in Kentucky.

My first horse growing up was a standardbred, and I'd agree that they make great family and children's horses. They're the most level headed horses I've been around, and long lived as well! My guy is 29 now and is still doing great!

I’ve loved horses all my life. Before I moved every day on my way to work I would see the two black percherons at Tilley Foster farm in Brewster NY. They were inseparable. Always inches apart. What a beautiful way to start your day!

Horses, like dogs and cats, the bigger they are the more love they have to give to you. 🥰 Massive horses are just fun to watch. Thank you for sharing your experience. Ase!

Thank you for this informative video. You asked about standardbred horses, I've had 3, 2 geldings and 1 mare. All of them are retired harness racers, have great personalities, and make great family members. They are, easy to train and very well-mannered with people and other horse breeds. The mare named RED TIME STORY is the herd queen on the ranch, the herd is made up of 29 retired thoroughbred racehorses and 1 appaloosa as well as the other two standardbreds. Oh, I should also mention 1 donkey mare. These horses are tall all three of mine are 17+ hands.

I absolutely love my Standardbred. She is one of the best horses I have ever owned. So smooth, great with kids and as bomb proof as you can get on the trails.

Spent quite a bit of time there in the 80s/early 90s. My mom was the organist for the Region 14 Arabian/Half-Arabian Silverama horse show. Early on the indoor arena didn't have sides and when it rained, it'd keep the arena really wet and in would come the frogs lol. A lot of us kids would go catch them and put them down in the little creek/ditch so they wouldn't get stepped on. Out of all the locations we traveled to for shows. KHP was my favorite. Glad you enjoyed it there!

I worked there too!! Parade of Breeds, Draft wagons, and the Morgan's tour around the park parameter. Oh, what fun!! I also drove for the Lexington Livery doing downtown historic tours, weddings, parades, picnics etc... I'm so lucky and grateful for the years driving in KY. Great memories!! Two days isn't enough to tour the park! The Rolex and the High Horse Steeplechase were two of my favorite Events. I learned to drive in NY in Goshen at the oldest Standardbred race track in the country. We started and trained yearlings to race... in high school. Then Drafts and sleighs in Colorado. I had a Friesian cross. An Amish farmer in Minnesota bred his tractor to his pick up truck... then that horse to a Friesian... and that horse to another Friesian and out comes mine. 75% Friesian 12.5% Standardbred trotter. 12.5% Belgian. He was absolutely stunning and wonderful. 17.2h of love. I LOVE BIG BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE!! Drafts are the best!!!

About 18 years ago I visited the Kentucky Horse Park during the hot humid summer - loved every minute of it! It is a beautiful place. You do need all day to look at everything and enjoy the horses. Thanks for this video - brought back a nice memory.

Castile soap is made of olive oil. It's moisturizing and just slides dirt right off. I love The Kentucky Horse Park, but can never get up early enough to get there before the draft horses are harnessed and working!

I grew up with Standardbreds. They’re super underrated - very athletic and easy going in nature.

I visited the Kentucky Horse Park from England back in 1998. It was great fun to ride out using a western saddle on a horse called Trigger. I wish I had had more time to investigate all the barns. It's an amazing park.

Draft horses are amazing beasts i love them so much

In 2019, my daughter and I went to the KHP and we stayed until closing time! It was such a wonderful experience and I can't wait to go back!

Look at them standing so tall and proud! They know how beautiful they are.

I’ve been there and you are correct, it is worth the trip no matter where you live. Thank you for sharing.🐴🐴

WOW those are beautiful babies 🤗❤️🥰

This looks awesome! I’ve heard of Kentucky Horse Park but had no idea it had all this. Thanks for the info!

I used to work for a cartage Co. In SALT LAKE CITY .WE HAD CLYDESDALES BELGIANS AND PERCHERONS .THEY were so smart and truly gentle Giants .Loved and miss them .

I'm so glad you had an enjoyable time there. It is one of my favorite places to visit. PS - Your daughter is getting so big.

I have wished since I was a child taking lessons that I could afford actually having a horse. So I own dogs and watch RU-vid videos about horses

Awww that’s place sounds so cool! ❤

My first ever horse was a standerbead ,second draft cross x ,3rd tennessee walker and thoroughbred. Love them all

I'd love to visit here! I love draft horses but unfortunately it's quite difficult to see one up close where I'm at. There are a few shires kept at a park nearby but I don't think they are kept in the best care. I got to meet a Friesian stallion up close a year ago and it was magical- he was such a sweetheart. Thank you for sharing this experience- it looks like it was great fun!

How fascinating! I really wish we had something like this in my state/country of Australia! America has amazing places to visit!

Thank You for sharing!

Regarding riding a TWH, the contact with their mouth is VERY light. I ride with an ounce or two of contact in each hand. I do not defend the big lick shows, they are abhorrent. But a TWH is an outstanding pleasure horse. It's been my pleasure to own and ride them the last 20 years.

I’m from The Netherlands, and went a couple of times to the event of Ring-steken, running at the ring, with Dutch draft horses. The kids ride on the horse without saddle. It’s very impressive to see, and hear, that horses run. In Dutch they are called Zeeuwse paarden, because they come from the province of Zeeland. (Where New Zealand is named after)

Yay to the paso fino!! My boy was a ambassador at Colorado shows few times. There is no better a horse♡

I miss my days on the equine troop. I got to work in the draft barn and with the (mostly mustang barn) there was a big draft horse and I think his name was lincoln. For sure I miss my Canadian sport horse Brigade

I once owned a 19.1 hh irish draught horse. Gentle giants

Worked on a Standardbred track in Ohio as a state vet assistant in the test barn and I will say coming from the Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse world, Standardbreds are beyond hardy! Most of the racing Standardbreds have very long careers and can amass a large some of money as they can and generally race every week. For training they can go out twice in the mornings for a couple miles, throw a cooler on them, rub some "hot lotion" to keep their muscles warm and go back out for another couple of miles. In Ohio, which has one of the largest Amish populations in the States they have been using Standardbreds for decades for their cart horses as well as breeding their own. Some the horses they can pay upward of $30,000 for to have a cart horse. Standardbreds are a very gentle breed and are pretty "bomb proof" they don't really spook easy at most things. I grew up with retired Thoroughbreds and raced some as well and they will always have my heart and I also showed some QH and being from Columbus, OH which hosts the All American Quarter Horse Congress every year, my love for them is like the Thoroughbred. Very happy you had a good time and are introducing your daughter to horses! There's something about horses that we just can't put into words what they do for us, besides drain our bank accounts!

I've been to the Kentucky Horse Park twice. The first time was about 30 years ago when I was in elementary school and one of the things I remember most was seeing a Bashkir Curly (my mother loved its coat). I also remember seeing racing legend John Henry, but I made sure to keep my distance because he was notoriously bad-tempered. My mother and I went back to the Horse Park in 2018; we were in Kentucky for the Breeders' Cup and took a side trip to the Park. We visited the Big Barn and also got to see Kentucky Derby winners Funny Cide and Go for Gin, plus Point Given (winner of the Preakness and Belmont), among other sights. I hope to go back again someday; there's so much to see.

Boy! Did I absolutely LUV your video! 💖 Love, love LUVED IT !! I've just subscribed. I don't work with horses now, or have any at the moment, but I used to work with Thoroughbreds in Alberta, Canada. We would do the circuit which consisted of Stampede Park in Calgary, Alberta (for the Calgary Stampede); then up to Exhibition Park in Edmonton, Alberta (for Klondike Days); back to Calgary, then we would winter at Turf Paradise in Phoenix, AZ; then to Hollywood Park in Inglewood, CA (I know, I'm giving away my age) & then back up to Calgary to do it all again. I ended up getting a farm outside of Edmonton, AB where I had my own horses as well as wintered a lot of the Thoroughbreds that just weren't' quite 'rich' enough to go to Phoenix or Inglewood. I ended up with over 60 of my own. I have lived I Kansas City, KS & even attended the Kentucky Derby one year. I'm telling you all of this because you would have though that with all of this horse experience, I would have heard of the Kentucky Horse Park. I never have! This is amazing! It is definitely on my bucket list now! And, I'm a draft horse lover as well. I rode Belgians & Percherons. I've always had a spot in my heart for the Clydesdales as well. I've just never owned any or have ridden one. You are so informative and orate beautifully! You are such a great spokesperson!

Absolutely gorgeous horses

Beautiful horses and super well cared for.👏👏👏👏

I love Standard bred horses, i had the luck of working as a volunteer as a horse handler for this breed on a small family owned race business and helped out there for about 4 years. There were about 12 horses there some still racing and some retired I would exercise one of the retired horses who ha lost his eye when he was still a colt in a pasture accident. He still went on to a successful career as a pacer. They are a relatively quiet breed of horse unless you have them on Grain which i get is how they have the energy to race like thoroughbred do. I suffer from a severe anxiety disorder, Fibromyalgia, heart problems i have arrhythmia, my heart would jump from a normal rhythm to over 236 beats a minute it can get very scary for me as there is Angina in my family on my mothers side it can feel like a heart attack with the pain in the arm and in the neck and throat as well as feeling very dizzy and tired as it goes back to regular heart rhythm. One day i was riding my one eyed wonder when all of a sudden he stopped dead nothing i did the ques he was used to would get him to move as a race horse he was used to going to the bathroom on the run so i knew he didn't stop for that reason, a few seconds later my heart jumped to 230+ beats a minute he stayed perfectly still for about 5 minutes till its went back to normal then he looked back at me to make sure i was ok and i thanked him and said walk on and he went like there was nothing wrong. Horses are known for being special they can sense things before they happen and if you have Anxiety or PTSD or even physical disabilities horses can be very understanding and very helpful in calming you down. He was a very special horse and i miss seeing him, only one member of the family still has race horses now and i have seen him once in the last 8-10 years. I had a Paint Quarter horse that i saved from near death he was my first forever horse. sadly he had to be put down due to a neurological episode the vet advised me to put him down as he wasn't the same horse anymore and his quality of life would not have been the same i wanted what was right for him of course but i didn't find out until he had already been put to sleep and buried. The owner of the facility where i boarded him had tried to get a hold of me during the day before he had to be euthanized but told me he wasn't the same horse anymore. So she gave the order on my behalf. I agreed it was the right choice to make. He was the first horse i ever owned, he had one foot in the grave when i got him and i put all my life savings into him to get him healthy and back to being his old self again when he went nuts during the night and the police found him in the middle of a country road at about 2 am he tried to jump bales of hay and running into fences wobbly on his feet and not able to stand well at all. it was a tough blow for me and my first horse and i miss him every day that was almost 5 years ago now. Standardbred horses are very easy keepers if you want to go on trail rides they are much like the old Quarter horses in a lot of ways,, but if you want them for race horses you have to feed them a good grain. Treat them right they will move mountains for you like most breeds of horse will do the same treat them badly they will not race for you.

Fun video 💞 We have a Gypsy Cross . He is only a yearling from Idaho . So just beginning His long life here in California 🇺🇸😁. I love our State . We pay 500 a month . Which is less than everyone around us . And is a beautiful Ranch owned by an elderly couple . Your tour was great . I also am blessed with taking care of a Sweet Friesian Mare . I am so glad you mentioned what he used to take care of the feathers . I will try the Castle Soap ! Laura 💜 Bear 💜 🐴Willow 💜🐴

I went there way back in 1994 when the million dollar gelding John Henry was there. I believe it was Citation that was there as well. I remember John Henry for sure because of being such an expensive gelding. It was an awesome place then too. I remember the parade of breeds too. Thank you for showing what’s going on there now. I really need to go back there.

Thanks for sharing this! I'll put it on my bucket list.

Some very beautifull horses.

Thanks for a great tour! ❤🐴🐎

Standardbred horses are awesome for families my boy loves young kids and is very gentle too new riders.

I had a chance to visit some years ago. It was wonderful!!!! I would love to visit again one day.

I rode up thru Yellowstone a few years back with a great outfitter. A couple of the horses were draft crosses and they did great!

So much beautiful horses

a horse my coach helped breed and train was an ambassador for the Morgans at the park for around 5ish years, he's now being borded at her barn lol

This is amazing!!!!! Thourghly enjoyed watching with my coffee in hand ,hello from Nova Scotia Canada 🇨🇦 Love the Draft Horse 🐎 content

Nice Kentucky Horses Park...

Marsh Tackys are native to South Carolina, and EXTREMELY rare. They were used for pretty much everything on farms. They are fairly small, very levelheaded, and quite fast.

My saddlebred wanted a steady contact. If he didn’t get it he would be all over until I made the firm contact and kept it steady, yet my rein signals were slight movements of single fingers. Life with him was amazing.

I've been there and you have done an excellent job highlighting what you can expect to see there!!!

Enjoyed your video. Paso Fino’s are such fun to ride. I had 2 but sadly, my old one just passed away. I agree with the Standardbreds. They can be excellent horses for many disciplines. I have 2 currently and one has been a wonderful trail and parade horse. She is about 30 years old but acts much younger! The other one will be 23 this year and is just a pasture pet. Years ago she did a bit of fair racing. My Dad also raced Standardbreds for several years and did fairly well with them.

Hex, the Marsh Tacky fillly belongs to me 😃

Here in NJ I’m close to the Standardbred Rescue in Allentown where you can adopt one of them. At our barn we have a 17hh Standardbred and a 19hh Percheron.

When my wife and I first got married 45 years ago I worked on a very large cattle farm in Kentucky, one of my jobs was to check the cows during calving season , dawn and just before dark , they had mostly standard breed horses, and they were very calm and were not fussy about the long rides checking the cattle. And could also work cattle if need be ,

Great video, very interesting. Thank you

I rode a draft horse for the first time! I love them so much!!!

Awesome!!!

I just found out this existed, I plan to go love horses.

Temperament wise standard breds win hands down. I recommend them highly

I wash our clydesdales legs / feather using baby shampoo and when dry put talc powder on the feather to bring out the white hair plus helps to dry properly , my favourite draught / heavy work horse is the clydesdale , good natured , beautiful , calm hard working , easily trained ! I also keep thoroughbred s , occasionally put thoroughbred stallion to a clydesdales mare to get heavy hunter of size 16.3 plus !

I grew up in the right era 1960s and 70s. I got a Shetland pony for 100.00 in 1969. My mother and father rented a house that had a farm in the back acres. We rented stalls for 25.00 a month. Those where the days. I had an Arabian, a Tennessee walker, and a quarter horse. My favorite movie is the War Hoese.

scandinavian here, that was a really nice looking fjord ;D I had one growing up. They are amazing!

I was there in November!

Standard Breds are Awesome ! I had time with them from a competitive owner/ rider that had ridden in the Nationals in Kentucky. My experience had been as a trainer, professional rider of cutting Horses as a young Man. I rode for a living. Quarter horses were great but could not last all day it took several to finish a day, thoroughbreds were awesome and also had “ cow in them” and would last all day only having trouble keeping weight on them. Well bred Standardbreds were more like thoroughbreds in temperament and stamina, I loved them! If you have a calm hand with them and give them a chance to come to you and do not try to break their will, they will trust and do anything for you. The only thing I noticed is the Crazy eye that most of the show winners share.

I live in central Idaho and my neighbor took in a rescue Percheron. He is apparently young but the poor thing has no shelter and has to sleep in the snow. Very sad. I walk over every morning and give him a big carrot. He can see me coming and will come to the fence. He seems to have a split hoof that may be a little tender. She seems to feed him enough. He seems a little depressed but it is hard to tell.

My Standardbred was a pacer, off the track. We did drill team and pleasure driving (yes he could canter too, not just pace). Best horse ever! Would highly recommend this breed.

If I’m ever in the USA I’ll have to make a trip to Kentucky. This place looks interesting. I personally have a Holsteiner, a Friesian and two Thoroughbreds. Wonderful horses all.

Check out the American Cream Draft. An American breed that needs saving. My best friend and her husband have raised several. Beautiful animals!

When you start talking about the standardbreds- are any of those you showed Western Dreamer? He's a triple crown winner- but i will always remember meeting him. If those are him, I'm glad to see he's still around and doing ok

Marsh tackeys are talked about in the novel A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith. The novel is set in the late 1800's in Florida.

That baby is so cute!

I love thoroughbreds, but standardbreds really grab my heart, too...they are such a relatively new breed. The foundation stallion, Hambletonian, was foaled in 1849 (by Abdallah out of the lame Charles Kent Mare) and died in 1876. These horses truly are long-lived and will give their all. Unfortunately, the standardbred sport is beginning to suffer from the same issues as the thoroughbreds... drugging and other performance enhancers

Had no idea this existed!! Would love to check it out

I have owned 2 standardbred pacers currently still have 1. She is 20 yrs old was a racer then dressage now is a homestead horse. Also have a half standardbred Rocky mountain cross colt , rocky mountain mare & 2 Belgian draft horses

Hopefully the Rocky Mountain horse can be showcased here soon as well. This is my favorite gaited breed and we do not have to get in their mouth. In fact a good trained Rocky will gait on a loose rain. Its all about the training.

I was there a few months ago

Great Video. Thank You . Very Informative.

The Paso fino rider looked like she was pretty light with her hands

Great video!

The Fjord.... 😂😂😂 The Barn is huge. A Barn in the Sates looks so different than in Germany.

Horse citty, i wanna go there 😍 its a little like money out of the window, as i heard they had space for 1500 horses, but someone is making a lot of money here 🤣

Very Cool Place! Looks like a place to visit. As for Standardbreds, I have one and a draft cross. Both excellent horses. The standardbread is such a willing and honest horse and fast learner. My only complaint… a tuff ride!

I'm the one grooming in the red flannel

Ivy Starnes is a gaited horse trainer on RU-vid that actually trains gaited horses to be on loose reins.

Some day I will own and care for and save and love 3 Belgian draft horses. Absolute love

Once you get out of Lexington proper board goes down especially for pasture board. Unfortunately, EVERYTHING has gone way up, including hay and feed so it can be hard to find a decent place to board any horse these days no matter location. The good thing is hay and pasture is still abundant in many southern and mid Atlantic states

Standardbreds are underrated. I’ve known some who, brought along carefully, many will exhibit gaitedness under saddle.

Hi, enjoy your videos, very informative. Do you own just 1 horse and if so could you give me any pros and cons on this issue. How does he do by himself or do you have another animal to keep him company. Thank You.

I thought Ocala Florida was the horse capital of the world!?!

Have you got Australian stock horse

Yes, I have seen Marsh Tacky horses in SC. They are descendants of the Iberian horses, as are the Banker ponies. Tacky horses have evolved to reflect their environment. Their secum and digestive system has evolved to digest local plants, meaning they can consume salt marsh grass better than northern cold grasses. Their feet have also evolved to traverse the beaches and soggy marsh wetlands. Their hooves ave shorter, wider, and more concave, or more shallow than horses that have evolved in northern, rocky latitudes. I don’t agree with your statement regarding gaited horses needing more pressure on the bit vs diagonal moving horse. Although gaited breeds’ bio-mechanics do differ from that of diagonal moving horses, the abilities of both genres to achieve free movement with impulsion, resulting in collection and frame, are equally influenced by conditioning and skill of BOTH horse and rider. I can ride my well conditioned gaited breeds (TWH, RMH, MFT, KMH, ASB, PF, PP, Icelandic) all on a loose rein. The horses that are not in shape need more support. I have NEVER had to put so much pressure on a horse’s mouth (30 +lbs) as when I was learning how to engage in dressage techniques while in training from previous Olympic contenders! It was SO against my nature, I left and sought out other schools of thought. Check out Peggy Cummings- connected riding-she learned from Sally Swift and Linda Tellington-Jones. When an accomplished rider can achieve balance and remain in neutral position, so as not to impede the flow of energy from hind to fore, then harmony has been attained both above and below! It is a journey based upon passion. Continue to seek balance and settle for nothing less.

2000lbs is light for 19.1hh but that horse did have a very small head and neck. 17hh is where our shire cross the 2000lbs mark on a scale. It`s hard cleaning the shires in winter here we dont have showers, but Ill show you thick shire feathers. 2:01 is weird. Do they only own small shires?

i met a lady yrs ago who owned standee bread horses and raced them. She told me when they can't race anymore she has given them to the Amish. She said she will not ever do that again because the Amish work them way to hard on their farms. they treat them as a work horse and don't care for them to much.

Anyone have any experience with a Vladimir Draft? Supposedly they're strong and heavy (1,800+lbs), but not tall (15-16hh) but were bred to be incredibly fast and athletic for their size. Sounds like a win-win if you love drafts but also like to tear it up...

One question: Is the bronze @0:32 Sgt. Reckless? Her Korean War record is very interesting. This video just popped into my feed for no real reason. Enjoyed it anyway.

Any Australian walers there ? Suggest you look up walers online to understand their significant contribution to WWI and WWII, especially in difficult desert warfare conditions.