February 2009

There are 78 blog entries for February 2009.

world-games-2010-foundation_150According to the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper, the World Games 2010 Foundation, Inc. has selected Fortune Commercial Properties located in Lexington Kentucky as the official commercial real estate company for the 2010 WEG.

Their company will be providing 10,000 sq.ft. of warehousing space along with 6,000 sq.ft. of office space for the World Games 2010 Foundation - as well as an undisclosed financial contribution to the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

The use of this space is expected to be primarily for storage as well as an operations center for the projected approximately 6,000 WEG volunteers that will be there helping out during the event.

Congratulations to Fortune Commercial Properties for the honor and contributions to this equestrian event!

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ky-horse-park_298Well, its official:  the proposed Kentucky Horse Park hotel is dead - at least for now.  For those that read the earlier Kentucky Horse Park Hotel article, you will recall the hotel was being funded primarily through the sale of bonds.  Those bonds needed to be sold before an April 15 2008 deadline, to ensure that the proposed KY horse park hotel would be completed in time for the 2010 World Equestrian Games.  [Officials at the horse park do NOT want any construction taking place at the horse park during the 2010 WEG.]

The bottom line: the bonds weren’t sold in time for the April 15th deadline, and as such the deal will not be allowed to proceed.

Kentucky horse park officials have stated that the proposed failed hotel deal should not have any impact on

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horse-farms-in-kentucky-scholarships_162Here’s a little snippet that should be of interest to some of our readers:

The Horse Farms Worker’s Educational Fund is now taking applications for college scholarships (or technical programs) from those persons that are recent high school graduates.

To qualify, the student applying must be the child of a parent (or parents) that work full time on one of the Central Kentucky Thoroughbred horse farms for a minimum for 3 years time.

The deadline to apply for the horse farms scholarship is July 1, 2008.  If you would like an application, please call (859) 269-1719.

Good luck to all of the Kentucky horse farms scholarship applicants!

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kentucky-horse-farms-rescue_150The Lexington Herald Leader newspaper, published an article about 70 horses that were recently rescued from a Kentucky horse farm in Jessamine County KY.  The horses were found to be malnourished and in poor condition.  Most of the animals at the horse farm were Tennessee Walking Horses.  The KY horse farm is located in Jessamine County, approximately 6 miles south of Nicholasville KY on the far end of Hunters Ferry Road.

The owners defended their position that the horses weren’t neglected or abused - and were only in their current position because of the lack of forage (grass, etc) in the fields at present - primarily as a result of the drought last year, and the tremendous amount of rains that we’ve had this winter.  The horses were allegedly being fed

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ky-horse-park-hotel_150Just an update for those that have been following the proposed Kentucky Horse Park hotel:  According to the Finance and Administration Cabinet in Kentucky, no bonds have been sold for the proposed equestrian hotel.  And if the bonds aren’t sold by April 15, 2008, there will be insufficient time to get the hotel finished in time for the World Equestrian Games in 2010 to be held at the KY horse park.  [Park officials do not want construction going on at the facility while the 2010 WEG is going on.]

The person selling the bonds is Ryan Barrow, who is with the company Ross, Sinclaire.  He has stated that the current economy has made it somewhat more difficult to get the bonds sold to fund the hotel project.

And beyond just the financing aspect of the hotel

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horse-farms-rescue_486As we’ve noted recently, many horse farms in Kentucky are feeling the pinch right now trying to take care of their horses. Hay prices are way up. And the ground has been extremely muddy, so this has resulted in horse farms needing to use more hay to supplement the feeding of their horses. Add in the ban on horse slaughter, and this has resulted in some owners that have been unable to care for their horses, in either just not feeding their horses sufficiently, or just turning them loose to fend for themselves.

But, there is hope. The Kentucky Horse Council held a event where various horse rescue organizations are trying to create a Kentucky state wide effort to create a list of groups that are a part of the effort to take in the abused, neglected, or

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lexington-kentucky-farrier_164The Lexington Kentucky newspaper The Lexington Herald Leader wrote recently that the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games has selected a Lexington Kentucky group as the official farriers for the event.  The group selected was the American Farriers Association.

The association will begin providing their services at the Kentucky Horse Park approximately 2 weeks prior to the event starting, and through the closing day of the games (From September 11, 2010 through October 10, 2010).  In the 2 weeks prior to the games starting, 2 farriers will be on site assisting riders and their horses with their needs.  However, once the WEG actually starts, up to 6 farriers will be available and providing their services for the 16 day event.

Costs associated with

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2010-weg-lexington-kentucky_409How would you like to ride in the 2010 World Equestrian Games? If the first lady of Kentucky, Jane Beshear, has her way, 120 lucky horse back riders could potentially get their chance.

Let me give you a little background first:

You know how the Olympics is always kicked off by fire - with the carrying of the torch and lighting of the fire? The WEG is similar in that it has a basic element that kicks off its games, but its water. They use water from all of the prior WEGs as their promotional tool for kicking off the games. Water from all of the earlier events has been collected and it is then poured into a fountain at the next WEG location. Current plans are to have the container pour its contents into a fountain at the KY Horse Park. [As of yet, no one

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kentucky-farms-aid_298Finally, after a fairly grueling year between the drought last summer, and the tremendous amount of rains this winter, the Kentucky government officials have unveiled a plan to help Kentucky farms. The plan is called Kentucky Agricultural Relief Effort and will give $8.15 million to Kentucky farms that were damaged last year. Many farms beyond just KY horse farms have been affected. A little known fact is that while the largest Kentucky farms product is horses, Kentucky is also the largest cattle/beef producer east of the Mississippi River. We even are in the top 5 for goat production in the United States.

With the harsh conditions over the last year, hay prices have kept increasing - and are now to the point that hay is being brought in from other states

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world-equestrian-games_217It was recently announced that in preparation for the 2010 World Equestrian Games to be held in Lexington Kentucky, that the organizers of the event are soliciting persons that speak multiple languages to help with the event. The 4 main languages expected for the event are: English, German, French, and Spanish

But a lot of the more less common languages are going to be needed to be able to communicate with competitors and even visitors that are coming to watch the event. Even if its a really obscure language that you know, it may be needed to help with the event. Competitors and spectators are coming from all over the world and there may be a need for your language expertise. Any help and assistance is greatly appreciated.

Additionally, the World Games

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