Page 170 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL EATING IBERIA

HorseCountryTours(visithorsecountry.com)is fore us were Mshawish, Not This Time, Midnight
a relatively recent organization of horse farms and Storm and California Chrome. “They all have differ-
equine attractions that have banded together to of- ent personalities,” Carly Moulden of Taylor Made
fer public tours. “We hope to create emotional ex- told us.
periences by sharing the story of the horses, the They were each stunning specimens. But the
land and the people with our guests,” it says. star of this show is “The People’s Horse,” California
We chose the VIP Stallion Experience at Taylor Chrome.
MadeFarm($150perperson)andtrulygotupclose California Chrome, bred in Yuba City, Califor-
and personal with some of those superb steeds. nia, won the 2014 Kentucky Derby, the Preakness
Our daytime tour included Maker’s Mark Old- Stakes and the 2016 Dubai World Cup. In 2016, he
Fashioned cocktails, of course, and a bountiful char- became the all-time leading North American horse
cuterie spread out in the stallion complex where in earnings won.
four different thoroughbreds were paraded before We each got to feed him his favorite cookies,
us — not more than 20 feet away. and we each got to pet this beautiful thoroughbred.
These are stallions that were once thorough- “These guys live better than I do,” noted
bred race horse winners, who now “stand stud” at Moulden. It costs $35,000 to breed with California
Taylor Made — they are bred to particular mares Chromeandhewillbreedwithsome145maresdur-
with the goal to create new champions. ing a season. He’s only 8.
Onthisgorgeous,sunnyafternoon,paradedbe-

170 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020