With an annual economic impact of $6.5 billion and supporting more than 80,000 jobs, Kentucky’s equine industry stands alongside bourbon as one of the state’s defining economic pillars. But while the bourbon industry has long benefited from a unified, consumer-facing voice through the Kentucky Distillers’ Association and especially its Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the horse industry historically lacked a comparable way to invite the public in.
For decades, much of what makes Thoroughbred racing possible — the breeding, foaling, training, and daily care of these equine athletes — remained largely out of view, tucked behind the gates of Central Kentucky’s horse farms. Fans might spend a few minutes watching a race, but rarely saw the years of work required to get a horse to that moment, or sustain it through a racing career and beyond.
That began to change in 2015 with the launch of Visit Horse Country, a nonprofit created to connect visitors directly to the people and places that define the industry. Through coordinated tours and experiences across more than two dozen facilities, the organization offers behind-the-scenes access to operations like those that have produced the past three Derby winners — Runnymede Farm (Mage in 2023), Magdalena Farm (Mystik Dan in 2024), and Godolphin (Sovereignty in 2025).
Aside from horse farms, Visit Horse Country’s members also include the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute — the world’s oldest and largest private equine veterinary practice — along with Keeneland Race Course, food manufacturer Hallway Feeds, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program.
Increasingly, through partnerships with venues like Keeneland and Churchill Downs, Visit Horse Country is also working to expand that access into the race-day experience itself.
Following a recent Horses & Hospitality event at Keeneland highlighting the track’s new Paddock Building ahead of this fall’s Breeders’ Cup, Business Lexington spoke with Visit Horse Country Executive Director Hallie Hardy about how the organization is growing equine tourism, promoting its member experiences, and offering the public a deeper connection to Kentucky’s signature industry.
What are the origins of Visit Horse Country and its mission?
The equine industry is one of Kentucky’s pillars, but a little over 10 years ago our member farms began looking around and realized that we weren’t making the most of this asset we have here. Between that, the beautiful scenery here, and all the people working to care for the horses every day, we saw an opportunity to leverage our farms for tourism experiences, similar to what distilleries have been doing with tours, tastings, and more with the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Also, when you attend the races, you may only see the horses while they’re being saddled, walking through the paddock, and, of course, on the track — but there’s so much more that goes into preparing them. That creates an opportunity for greater fan engagement and access to the sport, especially by giving people more chances to get up close to the horses. Keeneland has done a great job of that with its latest upgrades.
How is Visit Horse Country funded?
It comes through as a portion of ticket proceeds, which varies since some farms offer tours more frequently than others. We then reinvest those funds into customer service and marketing — similar to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail — because Horse Country isn’t one place, it’s a collection of experiences.
How do you promote the farm tours?
Our goal is to always have some sort of ongoing digital marketing spend, and to make sure we’re always among the top results when people search “horse farm tours.” But our strongest asset is relationship building.
When we look at some of our local partners who spend significantly more on marketing, we see a lot of iconic imagery — horses, fences, rolling fields. Knowing that imagery is prominent, it’s our goal to make sure that when places like VisitLEX are promoting Central Kentucky, we also make it easy for visitors to book a horse farm tour.
We’re also heavily invested in word-of-mouth marketing. We’ve seen it work for us, and the Bourbon Trail recently shared that nearly 20% of its visitors come from word-of-mouth referrals. Events like Horses & Hospitality at Keeneland also help drive that kind of awareness.
What visitation trends have you noticed during your time at Visit Horse Country?
Equestrian events — races at Keeneland, the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Three-Day Event — are essentially our “bottle of bourbon.” That’s what ultimately draws people in, so we see significant spikes around those moments.
Beyond that, visitation largely follows Central Kentucky’s broader tourism patterns. Things ramp up in April leading into the Derby, but October is actually our busiest month — and this year should be even stronger with the Breeders’ Cup returning to Keeneland.
How do you plan to continue growing equine tourism?
The challenge is balancing access with the primary mission of these farms, which is to raise and care for healthy horses. What we’ve learned over the past decade is that those goals can coexist.
Most people don’t see what happens on a farm day to day, so we want to create more opportunities for that kind of access — experiences that are intimate, authentic, and rooted in storytelling. That includes highlighting past Derby winners and giving visitors the chance to see horses long before they reach that stage.
Our inventory may be more limited than a distillery, but that doesn’t mean we can’t create experiences that go above and beyond.