TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/988448
ty, you're preaching from the pulpit as opposed to being in the congregation. We have this incredible land to raise sound horses. But the only way to protect that environment is to be relevant to the local economies." And that's where Horse Country comes in. Mill Ridge is one of 35 outfits, including two veterinary clinics and a feed mill, that have staked money and time in the project. Each ticket sale is divided between the non-prof- it body itself, and redemption of individual farm investments. "So here's a one-stop way to see all the farms, or see all the bourbon distilleries— and that's more tourists, higher hotel occu- pancy, more restaurant choices, including for all of us who live here, making our quali- ty of life better too," Price says. "There are 350 farms in central Kentucky. Before, we were very scattershot: some- one would show up at the visitor bureau wanting to see a farm, and someone might say: 'Well I've got a friend who works at that farm, let's try them.' Coming under one umbrella allowed us really to invest and work together." Horse Country was galloping flat out al- most before its members were mounted up: there was a Breeders' Cup at Keeneland round the corner, and along came a first Triple Crown winner in more than a gener- ation to top the bill. "The timing was amaz- ing, even if we weren't ready," Price says. "We're now written up in Vogue magazine as a Top Nine destination in the U.S. Those are eyeballs we might never have thought about for our industry. So now we're asso- ciated with growth, as opposed to being typecast as the emerald choker on the city's growth: 'Oh, you're just rich horse farmers who want a cottage industry.' "It's the quest to become relevant—not just to the 35 or 40 people we employ on the farm, but to our neighbours. We have a long way to go. We've done 50,000 tours in two and a half years and, while we're very proud of that, we need to be doing that ev- ery year. It needs to become part of our dai- ly routine. We've proven the boat can float;