Lexington

I can’t remember the first time I visited Lexington, Kentucky or when I first decided that it was my favorite place. Lexington is known as the horse capital of the world, so it makes sense that it is my favorite city. I go there every summer for horse competitions at the Kentucky Horse Park, and it is always the best part of my year.

One of the first times I remember going to Lexington was for a horse show a few years ago when I was riding my trainer’s horse named Annie. Annie is a really trustworthy and good beginner horse, but isn’t very pretty at all. She is knock kneed and has a sway back, but everyone loved her anyways. I was really excited to bring her to a big horse show because I thought we were really good and I had never shown in Kentucky before. Horse shows are the best because you basically get to hang out with your horse all day. At my barn, you have to feed them, brush them, and take care of them all by yourself because we don’t have grooms or barn hands like a lot of other fancy barns. I enjoy this work and it is really fun to get to do it with all of your friends together at nice facilities like in Lexington. The horse show with Annie was the first time I had been to the Kentucky Horse Park to compete, even though I had been there before as a tourist because they have a lot of museums and cool barns on the property. After the show, we didn’t do as well as I had originally expected because we were competing against really fancy horses, but it is still a great memory that I have of being in Kentucky. Now, Annie is retired and living out her older years at a nearby farm, and it makes me happy to have that memory because I don’t get to see her anymore.

Lexington is also home of University of Kentucky, which is where my mom went to college. Because of this, I’ve also been to Lexington for reasons other than horseback riding, because I have visited the school a few times when I was considering going there. Even the city part of Lexington is centered around horses, which makes me really happy whenever I go there. For example, all of their street signs have horses on the corner and there are a huge amount of cute boutiques dedicated to horse things.

Even though I didn’t end up choosing University of Kentucky, Lexington is still one of my favorite places and I know I will be back there soon.

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 3, 2018 at 8:15 PM

    Horse shows sound fun! I've never been a horse show, owned a horse, or even ridden a horse, but they seem interesting. This essay helped me realize that people can establish a real bond with horses, much like we do with dogs or cats or other "house pets". You have very good content and but I would've enjoyed if you went more in depth about what made the show with Annie so memorable. Also, maybe explain more of the differences between Annie and the "fancy" horses for people like me who know nothing about horses. Good essay overall though

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