Nice trip report. Thanks for taking the time to do it!

Loved the pictures of the wooden horse sculptures.

Local sidenote here...Northern Dancer was a grandchild of the great Native Dancer. The horse Native Dancer is local to me here in Baltimore, Maryland. The farm where he stood was Sagamore Farm and it was owned by Albert Vanderbilt III and is now owned by Kevin Plank (Under Armour founder)

It was interesting how you said that one of the places was turned over to the government. We were on a cruise and saw another place that was like that. I don't remember if it was England, Ireland or Northern Ireland. Anyway, the guide said that when they turn over the place to the government, they also have to provide funds for the upkeep. Otherwise, every family that had a downturn would just dump the estate on the government.