The Kentucky Horse Park is one of the most prestigious horse parks in the world and is home to some 40 breeds of horses. The park is a retirement home to some of the greatest horses that ever lived as well as a showcase for horse breeders all over the state. If a breeder can say that they have a horse at the Kentucky Horse Park, then it automatically gives them credibility as a world class breeder.

While we were walking around, I became really interested in finding out how and why Kentucky is horse capital of the world. I figured it was a fairly simple question, so after we took a horse drawn carriage tour of the grounds when we first arrived, I asked the guy who gave us the tour. "How and why is Kentucky such a hotbed for raising horses?" I inquired.

He said "Well, Louisville hosts the Kentucky Derby, Lexington is a big city and the horses love the blue grass." I give him credit for trying, but I'm pretty sure the fact that Lexington is a big city has nothing to do with the fact as to why horses are so big in Kentucky, so I looked for someone else to answer my question.

After walking around the stables, we decided to watch the parade of champions. In my opinion, this was the coolest part of the Horse Park. Several of the world's greatest horses were exhibited and walked around, including Cigar and John Henry. The announcer made herself available for questions after the parade, so I decided to see if she knew the answer. "How and why is Kentucky such a hotbed for horse breeding?" I asked.

"Well, probably because Lexington is the horse capital of the world," she enthusiastically answered.

"But why did it become the horse capital of the world?" I continued to probe.

She thought for a moment, then answered "Because the grass is so good. The horses love the blue grass. That's why I came here."

"For the blue grass?"

"No, because Lexington is the horse capital of the world. I used to be a secretary in New Jersey, but I hated it. I used to sit at my desk all day reading horse magazines, then I finally decided to pursue my love, so I enrolled at the University of Kentucky to study horses. We learned so much about horses, I mean we learned everything. We learned everything about their insides and their outsides. We had to learn every bone in their body. Horses have a lot of bones."

"How many bones does a horse have?"

"About the same as people, 208 or 218 or something like that. I wasn't really interested in that. I liked the reproduction, it's just so fascinating."

"And lucrative. Some of the horses get $500,000 a pop, just to stud, huh?"

"Oh yeah, nice life, isn't it?"

"So how do they do it? Do they dim the lights, light some candles and play a little Barry White to get the horses in the mood?"

"Oh no, it's so clinical. They keep the stud in his stable and get him all worked up, then they walk him to the area where the female is. The owners are there as well as all kinds of doctors to do tests as soon as they're done."

"You mean people sit in the bleachers and watch?"

"Sort of, yeah."

"What happens if it doesn't take? Do the owners get their money back?"

"I suppose, but since the doctors are there, they run all kinds of tests to make sure it worked. Unless the horse is sterile, like Cigar, the female always gets pregnant." After a little more horse talk, we thanked her for the information and continued walking around, hoping to find the real answer to my question. While the announcer was interesting enough, I have a hard time believing that the reason why Kentucky is such a hotbed for horse breeding is because its the horse capital of the world.

Still in search for my answer, I asked the guy who announced the next horse show that we saw, the parade of breeds. Finally, I found someone who seemed to be little more knowledgable about how Kentucky became the horse capital of the world. His explanation was the fact that Kentucky sat on a bed of limestone which is the reason for the lush bluegrass. He wasn't sure exactly why Kentucky blossomed in the horse business over other areas, but was pretty sure it was because of the grass.

Finally, after piecing together the various answers I received and spending a little bit of time in the horse museum, I think I found my answer. Back in the 1700s, Rhode Island was actually the horse capital of the US. There were basically two reasons, Rhode Island had lots of lush blue grass and it was the only colony that legalized horse racing. Local breeders, always in search for faster horses, became known for their high quality breeds. Since during that time period, a quality horse was highly sought after for both status and necessity, as they were the only means of transportation and were required for farming, the horse industry in Rhode Island exploded.

In the late 1700s, Daniel Boone blazed a trail through the Appalachians that opened up Kentucky to settlement. The trail he blazed however, was very rugged and many passes through the mountains were only wide enough to allow horses to make the trek, not covered wagons. This meant that the settlers who moved to Kentucky brought with them lots of horses. Because of the lush grass fields in Kentucky, the horses, once they made the journey, thrived. With the abundance of horses in the area, horse racing soon became a part of local culture. If two men had an argument, frequently a horse race would be run to settle the dispute. In the late 1800s, a small group of local men formed a horse club and soon initiated the innaguaral run of the Kentucky Derby. Several years later, the fastest and most famous horse of the day retired and became a stud. This was probably the single, most important factor in Kentucky becoming the horse capital of the world. Horse breeders from all around would come to breed with this stud and stay to raise their horses in the lush bluegrass.