National Horseracing Museum

Newmarket is just along the A14 from Bury St Edmunds, on the border with Cambridgeshire and is known as the home of British horse racing. The countryside all around is (if you will excuse the expression) studded with studs and there are not one, but two racecourses. (Er, yes, I did manage to go to the wrong course once one a company night out to the famous July races which are, not surprisingly, held at the July course).

The town has a unique environment consisting of the world's most extensive training grounds (situated on the world's largest expanse of tended grassland), over 2500 racehorses, some 70 licensed trainers and more than 60 stud farms where the racehorses of the future are bred. It was the original home of the Jockey Club, remains the headquarters of many national and international racing organisations and boasts two totally separate, dynamic and contrasting racecourses where some of the world's best flat racing takes place each year.

says the Newmarket Racecourses site.

Little Miss loves horses (and unicorns) so yesterday I took her and Little W to the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket.

Just at the entrance we found this picture...

...which she claims is really a unicorn.

Anyway, we did the tour of the museum, taking on Special Agent Jockey Joe's mission, collecting clues along the way. It is aimed at those a bit older than our 6 and 4, but they enjoyed it nonetheless. It includes tasks like finding the grooming tools in the stable and drawing your favourite picture in the art gallery.

Our favourite had a black and brown horse, one either side of a fence.

The highlight of the visit, though, is the Practical Room. Here you can do some colouring in, find the microchip in the horse, see the different horsefeeds, weigh yourself and, best of all, go riding. A jockey is on hand to dress you up in silks and get you on the horse simulator. Here is Little Miss having a ride.

She loved it, as did Little W when he had his go (they have a minimum age of 4, so he was just old enough).

We finished with a visit to the tearoom, where there's an entertaining mural of horseracing characters.



We were only there for the afternoon, but next time we must go in the morning to watch the horses exercising on the heath.

No prizes for guessing what activity Little Miss has at the top of her list now for when we go away on holiday!