A Good Place to Find a Horse Gift a Bit Out of the Ordinary
is an On-Line Museum Shop

You can often find unique horse gifts in the on-line gift shops of museums featuring equestrian themes or horse art.
There's something about museum gift shops that draw us in.
It likely has something to do with the uniqueness of the items as they relate to what's going on in the museum, which is what attracted us there in the first place!

In these shops I tend to buy -

• a good book relating to the museum displays ( I've always been a sucker for a book that's printed on glossy paper, lots of illustrations, and "heavy" to the feel).

• or, an inexprensive souvenier to bring home. Years ago it was silver spoons. Then it was shot glasses - some with a touch of class, others on the tacky side. When my wife decided we don't really need more shot glasses I switched to book markers - inexpensive, often attractive, and of course, useful.

A favorite purchase was a little metal horse sculpture I discovered at the gift shop at Mount Rushmore. Nothing terribly fancy, measuring about 3 by 6 inches, it nevertheless occupies a rather honored place in our breakfast nook.
Somthing like this makes a nice little "Thank You" gift for a horse lover.

The Museum Shops

An on-line museum gift shop can be a good place to find a gift for your horse lover. Several top museums featuring equine themes and having on-line gift shops are listed below. You can usually find a nice selection of unique gift ideas to choose from in these shops.

You won't find shops which have little to offer beyond what you'll find elsewhere. The focus here is on shops whose offerings reflect the theme of the museum itself. The links take you, in most instances, directly to the museum stores. Once there, you can of course go to the museum's home page should you wish.

• The Harness Racing Hall of Fame Gift Shop in Goshen, New York has one of the nicest selection of quality gifts that we've come across. You don't have to be a harness fanatic to appreciate what they have to offer. A wealth of books, statues, DVD's apparel and a cool harness racing weathervane.

• A very interesting gift shop is located at THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE MORGAN HORSE.

  Besides a rather attractive Welcome Sign, you'll find:

  slate trivets, ornaments, postcards, paintings and prints
  publications including the classic Morgan Horse,
  weather vanes
  a mouse pad
  clothing with the museum logo
  and even a cookbook with recipies contributed by Morgan owners.
  This is a great source for a horse gift for the Morgan horse lover!

• The next stop is Tulsa, Oklahoma and THE GILCREASE MUSEUM featuring an outstanding selection of western art.

  There is more than one fine horse gift idea in their shop although the items could better be described as focusing on western art more so than on horses.

  The "centerpiece" for horse lovers may well be the selection of bronzes by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, including
  

  Bronco Buster
  Bronco Twister
  Cheyenne.

  Also, horse art books -
  

  
  two on Frederic Remington,
  one on Russell
  
  and a porcelain coffee cup featuring a number of Remington bronzes.

  This would be a site worth visiting, especially if you have bronzes in mind.

  THE WHITNEY GALLERY OF WESTERN ART is where you find masterworks by artists such as George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, Charles M. Russell, N.C. Wyeth and others.

  Their store features a number of prints and a selection of sculpture. Much of what is available is western art, including native Ameican art, wildlife, and western history. But there is a potential horse gift to be found here and there including some very nice items.

  One book featured in the store is Unbroken Spirit; The Wild Horse in the American Landscape. This appears to be a nice gift possibility and there is an associated poster listing for $5 which we think is very attractive. You may agree.

  There are also a number of Buffalo Bill posters available.

  Your best bet is to click on to the Browse Around button. There is also a Search Box available.

  A selection of clothes, books, jewelry and toys, with an Appaloosa theme is available from, guess where - THE APPALOOSA MUSEUM AND HERITAGE CENTER.

  In the book section, although a good percentage of what is available focuses on the country the Appaloossa came from and the nez Perce and Palouse tribes, there are several books on the horse itself, including The American Appaloosa Anthology and Spotted Pride.

  In the Art section there are many items with a horse motif, and if you take a look at the clothing page, you will find, surprise surprise, several Appaloosa t-shirts.

  For the horse racing enthusiast, a collection of specialty gift ideas, including art, books and clothing in the horse racing and race horse theme is to be found in the Saratoga Silks Online Gift Shop at THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF RACING AND HALL OF FAME.

  They have some very attractive prints of racing champions Cigar, Seattle Slew, and Secretariat plus a number of Seabiscuit items (mousepad, coasters, mug, notepads, and an attractive wristwatch).

  Hopefully some day a visit to Lexington, Kentucky and the will be a reality. You'll find the Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop here. In amongst the souveniers (a number of Kentucky Derby items including a Mint Julep glass) you'll find fine artwork (prints and statues) and some nicer items of jewelry.

  Also on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park there's THE AMERICAN SADDLEBRED MUSEUM featuring a nice selection of attractive and rather unique gift items. You'll discover books for children, limited edition sculptures of legendary Saddlebreds, bracelets and pendants, videos, DVDs and CDs, and much more.

If another museum comes to mind you may wish to explore, or you want to look into anything else for that matter - take advantage of our Search Box below. You never know what treasures you might come up with. If you do find a great museum gift shop not listed here, please let us know! We'll add it.

Back to Top of Page

Back to Your Guide to Gifts for Horse Lovers Home Page