International Museum of the Horse Lexington, KY

 

The International Museum of the Horse offers several shows, attractions, and activities. They have many exhibits, collections, and sculptures that bring to life the story of horses. In the lobby of the International Museum of the Horse, is a life size bronze statue of the World Champion Polish Arabian stallion Bask. The sculpture was created by Edwin Bogucki who had an incredible talent in fine art and a love for horses. His story is one of success in which he followed a dream and took action to make it a reality. He forwent a profitable career and pursued a full time career in fine art. To date, he has created 35 bronze portraits and more than a hundred pastel and oil portraits.

 

The Al-Marah Arabian Horse Gallery takes visitors through the historical art and artifacts that explain the history of the Arabian horse. The museum shows the early domestication of horses in the Middle East and then takes a tour into the story of how the horse spread across the world to Europe and the United States.

Life size statue, costumes, artifacts, and interactive activities make history come alive.

Moving into Medieval times, the villager conquers the knight.

We had fun watching a presentation of miniature ponies. Mama and baby ponies were part of the show.

Several large display cases showed a multitude of awards and trophies that have been received by riders.

The museum depicts the daily life of horses. The Equine Hospital is a necessity when it comes to raising horses. They say “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Does that apply to horses too?

One of the barns showed the different carts and plows that have been used with draft horses in the past. My brother, Joshua, plays the part of the farmer.

  

Carriages from ancient to more recent times are showcased in the museum. My personal favorite was the Skeleton Wagon.

Miniatures brought light how great a help horses have been for us.

Ending on a funny note…

     

I enjoyed sharing this tour with you. Have a great week!

Research and Demonstration farm Kentucky State University

 

The Kentucky State University has a varieties of graduate studies and programs. I was impressed with the environmental conservation efforts that KSU is striving towards. They offer a Masters in Environmental Studies and have an entire demonstration and research farm that allows interns to experience farm life first hand.  I was able to tour their 203 acre farm along with members of the Northern Nut Growers Association. Their farm conducts research in a series of greenhouses (above), the barn, and staff office buildings.

Kentucky State University;  http://tinyurl.com/8mh5w4h
Organic Working Agriculture group at KSU; http://organic.kysu.edu/index.shtml 

 

The Research and Demonstration Farm is a model for small farmers and serves in education of KSU students. As they support local farmers, they in return help the local people and increase the health standards placed on food. To achieve this ideal standard, eight acres are specifically devoted to the growth of organic crops.  These acres are put to maximum use as they are used for education and a variety of projects. Such projects include,  Heritage vegetable seed saving, Sweet sorghum for syrup,  and an on-farm bioethanol production.

 

The EFuel100 Microfueler is the mechanism that takes sweet sorghum, sweet potato, and waste trees fruits and transforms them into a usable product that tackles the need for renewable fuel. It processes high-carbohydrate was products and takes them through the stages of fermentation, distillation, purification, fuel blending, and into a pumping unit.

There is a 12-acre farm that possesses fruit and small fruit production. Peach, apples, grapes, and blackberries, are integrate into the farm. They are not all organic, but they still are an important part of the farm.

 

Grape orchards are lined in neat rows. After trying the grapes at KSU, I was deeply satisfied with the quality of taste that exceeded far above grocery bought grapes. The red ones were small, but sweet. The green ones were a little sour, but still delicious.

Both dwarf and regular size apples are grown. Above are the dwarf apples.

June bugs were dead everywhere! The ones that were alive were busy at consuming peaches on the trees and fallen ones.

   

Primocane fruiting blackberry varieties are part of the study being held this year. Thornless, thorny, and thronless-trailing varieties are all being studied. The blackberries also fall under the organic standards.

I hoped you enjoyed learning about KSU and their Research and Demonstration Farm. I enjoyed sharing it with you and hope you get the chance to visit as well. Thanks for visiting! My next blog entry will continue my tours in Kentucky.

The Joe Ford Nature Center in Owensboro, KY

While visiting our grandparents in Kentucky, my brother, sister, and I toured the Joe Ford Nature Center. It is a 14-acre natural area that is located on the edge of Owensboro, KY. Our tour began at the Wild Fern Trail and as we followed various trail, our tour guide showed us plants as well as several trees native to the area.

Website:   http://www.joefordnaturecenter.com/About-Us.html 

My favorite tree was the Osage Orange Tree. It is also known as Hedge Apple. The yellow-orange word is useful for tool handles, treenails, fence posts, and is valued because of its ability to withstand rot and is a strong stable wood.

  

This peculiar tree is sometimes cover in wart like bumps. Upon the mention of its name, I immediately remembered it from my studies of butterflies. It is a Hackberry and host of the Hackberry butterfly. For hungry caterpillars, this inspires the phrase Bon-appetite!

Pokeweed is a plant that you don’t want to mess around with. The most poisonous part are the roots, then followed by the leaves and stems, and the berries have the smallest amount of poison.

 

Watch out for poison ivy on the trails. Finally, I know how to identify this plant. It sounds crazy that I’ve not learned or at least I don’t remember what the plant looks like! I don’t recall ever making contact with poison ivy and hope I never will.

 

Friendly butterflies greeted us along the way.

Mullein plant flowering along the path.

 

We now begin the race of the turtle and the hare.  Mr. turtle has just made contact with the path that leads to the finish line! Now, we have ended our tour of the Joe Ford Nature Center. I hope you all have a great week. I will continue our adventures in Kentucky in my following entries.

Elizabeth’s Traveling Tips:

 

When touring the US, a trailer or B-van is a convenient form of transportation. While in Kentucky visiting grandparents, we camped at two sites and had our own bedrooms, kitchen, and bathrooms. It’s like a traveling house!