My Kentucky Home

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Stonewall Farms


One of the things I love the most about living in Midway, is the fact that I'm surrounded by some of the most beautiful horse farms in the country. This one, Stonewall Farms, is one of my favorites. I read that a Stonewall Stallions farm in Versailles (just down the road a piece) had bought a partial interest in the Arkansas Derby winner Lawyer Ron. I wonder if it's the same farm. Name is similar??? Don't know.

This was orignally a much smaller farm that changed hands a little over a year ago, I think. Then the new owners started making wonderful improvements, like adding lighted cornicopias to the barns, putting in a dirt training track, adding on to the main house. Then the smaller property next door came up for sale and the folks at Stonewall purchased that property and built the barns you see in these pictures. I haven't been inside yet, but I hope to get a tour some day soon. One of the things I appreciate about the improvements they're making, is that they are rebuilding the stone fencing as needed, and putting in new where the old fencing stops. The stone fencing is very unique because no mortar is used. The entire fence is held together by gravity. It's amazing. I'll add a closeup picture of a stone fence I found the day my sister and I went sight seeing and got lost. We got some great pictures that day! We found our way home because I recognized the trim on the horse barns we were passing, and I was able to find a familar road by following the fence line.













I want to do some more sight seeing and add to my collection of photo's of famous farms. So if you enjoy sightseeing from the comfort of home, I hope you'll stop back!

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Thoroughbred Farm Tours

















What a Blast!! Last week I booked a farm tour with Thoroughbred Heritage Tours out of Midway. It has been on my "must do" list for 2 years. I had promised myself that I would go last summer. But as you know, I spent the majority of last summer in the hospital. So now I am playing "tourist" and enjoying every minute of it!

We boarded a newer, 15 passenger van in front of the Thoughbred Theatre in downtown Midway. It was really comfortable with good air conditioning, even in the back, and a hands free microphone for our guide, so that he kept both hands on the wheel! The tour company and theatre are owned by Tony Moreno, whose family goes back several generations in the horse industry. (Another event on my "must do" list is to go to the June Murder Mystery dinner theater productions - Murder at Cafe Noir. I bet I can catch the crook! Ah...but I digress...) Tony was to be our guide for the morning.

We headed toward Lexington Center in downtown Lexington, where we picked up two more guests, then did a short historical tour of the downtown as we headed out to horse country. The tour takes a unique historical approach. We got to see farms like Castleton Lyons, Spendthrift, Calumet, and the Donmino Stud (where the Crane's of the movie Dreamer fame, trained Sonador). We got to go behind the scenes on the farms where the movies Seabiscuit and Dreamer were filmed. We stopped at the KY Horse Park to see the burial place of the great Man O' War, we stopped at Keeneland and got to see where they are tearing up the old dirt track%2

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Lexington Cemetery





In the last couple of weeks, I have been to the Lexington Cemetary twice for photo shoots. It's over 100 acres of beautiful flowers, flowering trees, ponds with ducks and turtles, etc. To say it's beautiful is an understatement. So instead of talking about it, I'm going to post some of my favorite pictures.