LEXINGTON, Ky. — Major improvements are on the way to Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The park, which hosts horse shows and serves as a major tourist destination, demolished five barns and is replacing them with more updated amenities.

There will soon be 200 new stalls for competition horses at Kentucky Horse Park.

“Right now I believe we have 19 barns after we tore down the five, and that represents around 1,200 stalls,” said executive director, Lee Carter.

Lee Carter has been the executive director of the horse park since Jan. 2022, and says these stalls will be bigger and feature restrooms and overhead fans.

“Our current barns are 10-by-10, so these new barns are going to be 10-by-12,” Carter said.

Most of the current barns were built in the 1980s, Carter said, and competitors helped guide them on what amenities were most important in a new space.

Prior to working at the horse park, Carter himself was executive director of Equestrian Events Inc; the organizing body for one of the park’s largest events, the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day event.

“We wanted to know from them, ‘Hey, what were they looking for in a new barn?’ And at the same time, we did an online survey where we opened it up to provide feedback,” Carter said.

From the spring until about November, Kentucky Horse Park hosts riding, dressage and other events showcasing the beauty and skill of horses. For now, temporary barns have been established to make up for stall space lost during construction.

“We’ll be busy through the end of November. In total, we’ll have over 130,000 stalls that are rented throughout our season, so they get a lot of use,” Carter said.

The Kentucky Horse Park hosts many competitions on the weekends until Thanksgiving.

The horse park is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays.