Celebrate spring this year by taking in something a little more lively than a flower festival. April is the month for the spring thoroughbred racing calendar at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., the self-styled Horse Capital of the World.

Watch some of Kentucky's best thunder around the track at Keeneland — ww2.keeneland.com — (yes, that numeral "2" is supposed to be there). Look up the calendar under Racing. Then click on More to Do to find the times for watching morning workout sessions, when admission is free, and a group of videos (the only one about the track itself is at the bottom).

Learn more about the most famous products of the Bluegrass region with a visit to the state-owned Kentucky Horse Park — www.kyhorsepark.com — where you can visit the International Museum of the Horse, see the resident draft horses and take a tour on a horse-drawn wagon. Look under Attractions & Activities for more things to do, including trail rides and pony rides for the kids. Consult Visitor Information for times, ticket prices and interactive maps of the complex, which sits just north of Lexington.

The area's famous horse farms are private property and you cannot just drop by for a visit. However, there are outfits that provide tours of horse country. Among them, consider Thoroughbred Heritage Tours — www.seethechampions.com — and Horse Farm Tours — www.horsefarmtours.com — both of which advertise van tours of the area plus a visit to one farm's stables. You also can take a photo tour of one of the most famous farms, Calumet — www.calumetfarm.com — by clicking on Gallery.

Learn more about seeing the working countryside by visiting the Lexington Convention & Visitors Bureau — www.visitlex.com — and looking for Tour a Private Horse Farm. Then, after all this concentration on horses, you'll want to see what's happening in the city itself. Click on April under the Calendar of Events heading to pick up events such as the three-day Best of the Bluegrass — www.bestofthebluegrass.org — a presentation of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" — www.lexingtonoperahouse.com — or the April 12 Kite Fest.

Lexington offers plenty to go along with horses, night life and concerts. At the visitors bureau's main page, look under the calendar for its top 10 list. You'll find tours of historic homes, tours of four of the area's distilleries including Wild Turkey —www.wildturkeybourbon.com — and Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill — www.shakervillageky.org — a 3,000-acre National Historic Landmark that is the nation's biggest restored Shaker community.

Need more? Visit the Bluegrass section of the Kentucky Department of Tourism — www.kentuckytourism.com/sitestosee/bluegrass.htm — and search by interest or try the local tourism Web links. Then look under Things to Do for the Trails & Roads section and the Kentucky Music Trail or Barbecue and Bluegrass.