Built in 1931, the Horse Palace was hailed as “The finest equestrian facility in the country”. The building was constructed in the Art Deco style, complete with copper cupola and detailed masonry of horses carved into the exterior. Still considered one of the finest equestrian facilities in Canada, the Horse Palace is currently home to The Riding Academy, the Toronto Police Mounted Unit as well as Toronto Animal Services.

The tradition of horses at the Horse Palace and on the grounds of Exhibition Place as both permanent and temporary home to horses and other livestock can be traced to the Battle of York in 1813-14.

Later, between 1942 and 1946 it also served as a barracks and was home to Canadian Army recruits during their training before shipping overseas. Throughout this time, the Exhibition Place grounds have been host to a plethora of agricultural fairs and exhibitions dating as far back as to 1878 beginning when Toronto, at the Exhibition grounds, hosted the Provincial Agricultural Fair in that year. The Toronto Industrial Exhibition was officially founded the following year in 1879, but it wasn’t until 1912 that the Canadian National Exhibition Association was formally established. November 22, 1922 saw the first opening of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, which was originally held in the coliseum and has now expanded to include the Horse Palace (upon it’s construction in 1931) and the National Trade Centre. Each year the CNE and the Royal continue to stage and host world-class fairs. For more than 120 years horses and horsemanship have been a feature attraction at Exhibition place.