When You Feed a Horse a Carrot!
It’s a fact: horses love carrots—the light sweetness, the superb crunch—they’re just so darn carroty. Plus they’re nutritious, providing vitamins, minerals, and fiber that horses need to be healthy and strong. A horse shouldn’t have to live on hay alone! And if you’re ever lucky enough to visit a real Kentucky horse farm, you may even get a chance to feed a horse a carrot yourself.
The carrot is something of a symbol at Mill Ridge Farm. But why?
The answer has a lot to do with Mill Ridge’s founder, Alice Headley Chandler. She was something special. Born right here in Lexington in 1926, Alice grew up around horses and loved them dearly. Her father, Hal Price Headley, was a founder of Keeneland, an important thoroughbred racing and sales organization.
Living on the family farm, Alice loved to feed carrots to the colts and fillies, and her gentle approach influenced the way we raise horses here at Mill Ridge. “Take care of the horse, and it will take care of you,” Alice was fond of saying. And when Alice grew up she became an accomplished horse breeder and role model in her own right, raising champions and breaking barriers. Indeed, today there’s hardly a horse farm in Kentucky that wasn’t in some way inspired by her.
But let’s get back to the carrots!
What’s it like to feed a carrot to a horse? Well, there’s really only one way to find out: by coming to Lexington, Kentucky, taking a horse farm tour, and feeding a Kentucky thoroughbred racehorse a carrot yourself! The way we see it, horses love carrots, and people love horses, so why not let people come and get a hands-on experience showing our horses some carroty love?
Mill Ridge offers visitors group tours, private tours, seasonal sunset wagon rides, and a chance to interact with the horses by feeding them carrots from the palm of your hand.
What’s that like, you ask? Well, a horse’s lips are long and can act like fingers. As you approach a fence with a carrot, you reach out with your hand flat, palm up, with the carrot resting on your hand. Then the horse will pick it up. You’ll feel their warm, wet lips graze your hand like a kiss. But be careful not to curl your fingers when holding out the carrot, because to a horse human fingers can look an awful lot like carrots.
That’s not all there is to do here. As you tour Mill Ridge, you’ll get to see—and learn all about—broodmares, foals, weanlings, and two-year-olds. You’ll see how they’re raised with love, and what goes into raising horses for racing. You might get to witness a turnout, when the horses are let out of their stalls to roam and graze on the rich Kentucky grasses.
And when your real-life Lexington, Kentucky, farm tour is over, you can head to our gift shop for an authentic Mill Ridge carrot hat to commemorate the experience. Just be sure a horse doesn’t eat your hat!
Interested in learning more about broodmares, foals, weanlings, and two-year-olds? Want to see how they are raised for yourself? Schedule a tour of Mill Ridge Farm today through Visit Horse Country.