Miniature mounted knight and horse in full armor, a wind-up scale model that is an example of French Victorian art, at the Kentucky Horse Park.

The museum recently became a Smithsonian affiliate, one of only two in Kentucky with this distinction (the other is the Headley-Whitney decorative arts museum, also in Lexington). “The Smithsonian has a huge collection, 99 percent of which is in storage,” Cooke says. “Now that our museum is qualified, we’re talking to them about sending us treasures that have not seen the light of day for years.” Collectors should also schedule a visit to the University of Kentucky Art Museum, which houses an inventory of nearly 4,000 European and American sculptures, paintings, photographs and decorative arts.
“The horse business is healthy and has been for some time,” says Greg Ladd, owner of the Cross Gate Gallery on Main Street. “That’s the way most people in central Kentucky make their living. They, and the horse people who come to Lexington, make for a thriving art scene.” Ladd, who specializes in British and American sporting art, opened his gallery in 1974. He also offers pieces by contemporary British figurative artists he has discovered during his buying trips overseas.

“Cross Gate is Lexington’s bellwether for sporting art,” says Bowen. “Among the artists in Ladd’s stable is Andre Pater, the key sporting art painter in America today. Pater paints the entire range of sporting art—portraits, scenes, jockeys.” His latest works include portraits of racing great Smarty Jones, a stallion at Lexington’s Three Chimneys Farm. (Ladd recommends also visiting Gallery B and Ann Tower Gallery.)

Unexpected treasures can be found in Lexington’s antiques shops as well, says Bowen, who recently discovered a rare Thomas Fearnley painting from the early 1800s. Before you visit, log onto the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Web site, which lists more than 200 antiques shops, an indication of what horse country can offer to collectors.

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Dale Leatherman is the editor-at-large of the equestrian Web site EquiSearch.com.