Every April, Lexington’s Kentucky Horse Park (headquarters of the American Association of

Currier & Ives, “A Fair Field and No Favor,” 1891, lithograph, at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Equine Artists) hosts the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, which combines dressage, cross-country and show jumping and showcases the world’s best riders to thousands of international spectators. At historic Keeneland Race Course, the annual spring race meeting and sales have begun, drawing racing fans from all over the world.

This “horse capital” is a natural draw for sporting artists such as Gwen Reardon, whose life-sized horse sculptures adorn Thoroughbred Park in the center of town, says resident Edward L. Bowen, one of the country’s foremost racing historians and a sporting art aficionado. He notes that many sporting art examples are displayed throughout Keeneland Race Course’s clubhouse and grandstand, and there are selected paintings, sculptures and trophies in the separate Keeneland Library.

Bowen recommends that visiting art collectors explore the International Museum of the Horse at the Kentucky Horse Park. Museum director Bill Cooke, a Lexington-area native who has been with the museum for 30 years, is planning a major show in 2010, when the park hosts the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. This year, from June through October, the museum will exhibit the history of harness racing, which will include one of the most complete collections of Currier & Ives trotting prints in the United States. On permanent display is an extensive and diverse collection of equestrian art and artifacts tracing centuries of man’s relationship with horses.