Lexington Leverages The Breeders Cup By Turning Sneakers To ‘Horse Kicks’ Equine Footwear

Custom Sneakers for horses have arrived in the home of racing in the USA – Lexington, Kentucky – in the form of a slightly tongue-in-cheek October/November ‘Horse Kicks‘ campaign from agency Cornett, regional visitor/tourist organisation VisitLEX and sneaker design outfit Infinite Kustomz.

The world’s first custom sneaker range for horses, ‘Horse Kicks’, is a custom ‘deconstruction/reconstruction’ service that turns rare and collectors human sneakers into premium ‘horse shoes’ for the world’s greatest equine athletes.

Kentucky creative agency Cornett, which is based in Lexington, conceived and created the campaign.

Launching in fall with a pop-up retail presence in downtown Lexington (the nearest significant town to Churchill Downs – the home of the Kentucky Derby), Horse Kicks was founded to cater to the 450 horse farms and the billion-dollar ‘thoroughbred industry’ surrounding Lexington and Louisville.

The first horse to wear a Horse Kicks sneaker was called ‘Bear’ from Millenium Farm and Bear has become the poster-horse for Horse Kicks after featuring in the brand’s photography and teaser video.

Marcus Floyd de @horsekickslex quiere que los caballos se conviertan en sneakerheads. Se puede pedir en el sitio web de Horse Kicks a partir del 24 de octubre, con el 10 por ciento de las ventas serán donadas a Sneaker Ball Lex y su Organizaciones benéficas. pic.twitter.com/B1wTdMkJ1N

— DopeHQ (@dopehq) October 20, 2022

For $1,200, you can gift your horse than very own custom kicks pic.twitter.com/5M32W3912I

— Sneaker News (@SneakerNews) October 19, 2022

A company called Horse Kicks is really making sneakers for horses pic.twitter.com/wdrJbvbZqx

— Complex Sneakers (@ComplexSneakers) October 18, 2022

The ‘Horse Kicks’ range is on display at a pop-up retail outfit in downtown Lexington (on the corner of Main and Broadway) which was opened to leverage the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Festival which runs between 4 and 5 November.

Horse Kicks is also now accepting custom order inquiries at https://horsekickslex.com/ and prices start at $1,200 per shoe – with Horse Kicks donating 10% of proceeds to benefit Sneaker Ball Lex and its charities.

The initial range consists of three one-of-a-kind designs and any remaining collection will be donated and auctioned off during the ‘Sneaker Ball Lex’ event in Lexington on 12 November to raise funds for local minority organizations.

Horse Kicks is a partnership between VisitLEX (the official Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau dedicated to promoting the city and the community to tourist travel) and Lexington-based shoe and cleat artist Marcus Floyd’s Infinite Kustomz LLC (Floyd studied the art of shoe ‘decon/recon’ at The Shoe Surgeon’s SRGN Academy In Los Angeles and his business specializes in creating customized and hand-painted sneakers and cleats).

“It was a unique challenge for sure,” said shoe designer Marcus Floyd. “As far as I know, I’m the only one in Kentucky doing cut and sew reconstruction of sneakers, and definitely the only one in the world doing it for horses.”

“If Lebron James can have his own custom sneakers, why can’t American Pharoah?” said VisitLEX President Mary Quinn Ramer. “Horse Kicks is coming to Lexington to serve all the prized horses who call this special place home and we couldn’t be more excited. We brought this idea to life because it creates a fun, completely original experience that can only happen in the Horse Capital of the World. We also love that it spotlights Lexington’s creative culture and one of its most talented artists in Marcus. Plus, if we can do some good along the way, everyone wins.”

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“We treat these horses like the superstar athletes that they are,” added Executive Director of Horse Country Tours Hallie Hardy. “They should look the part!”