Laura S.
Yelp
We're on a long road trip, and knew that we HAD TO do something related to horses while in the Lexington area. We usually live in a rural area of Virginia, but we're not generally exposed to horses so this would be our opportunity to learn and to come into closer proximity to these magnificent creatures.
We arrived on a Sunday around noon in late April. Ticket prices were $16 (adult) and $14 (senior, 62+). Their website said that parking would be $6 but we were never charged that fee. These were their spring prices; they are higher effective May 1. Park is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
We arrived with a ton of other cars but the park itself was relatively uncrowded. It's possible that there was an equine competition going on elsewhere on the premises.
Some of the features of the park include:
1. Two Museums to explore equine history.
2. Horseback trail rides suitable for first-timers. 30-minute guided trail rides at designated times. Extra $30 per rider). Also, pony rides for ages 2-12. ($6 for 3 times around the paddock. Designated times).
3. A daily schedule of short shows. (5 shows, at 10 am. 11, 1, 2, and 3).
4. The opportunity to visit various barns, including the big barn, the kids barn, mounted police barn, and more.
5. Equine sculpture walk, which features equine sculptures from artists around the world which are scattered throughout the grounds of the park.
Despite all of these features, my husband and I left the park feeling that we had actually seen very few live horses. We visited all of the barns -- and found that the majority of the stalls were empty. Where there were horses, they were hard to see and/or photograph because they were behind bars or sleeping. The 2 pm "Draft Horse Meet & Greet", billed as an opportunity "to meet the largest horses of the park" featured only one horse. The presenter spent much time talking about the heights of different breeds but it was hard to visualize without being able to visualize the breeds side-by-side. An outdoor field had only two horses within its fences. No Mounted Police were in the Mounted Police Barn.
We do not recommend the experience at its current price point.