The National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics
(NAEAA – “neigh”) conference was in Louisville, KY this year and boy was it
worth the trip! The conference itself always provides lots of ideas to bring
home and share with colleagues as well as learning from speakers from the
equine industry. This year the conference included 2 days of tours visiting
some of Lexington’s beautiful horse farms.
My husband Len made the 9 hour drive with me leaving early
on Tues. so I could attend the pre-conference workshop on tenure and promotion.
Early Wed. morning we headed out in the bus to back track a little to Lexington
which is 70 miles east of Louisville. Our day started at Midway College’s
Equestrian center with their converted tobacco barn and riding facilities. One
of the things that I really liked were the horse anatomy diagrams on the inside
walls of the barn. This included internal organs, muscles and even one showing acupuncture
points. Our next stop was Kentucky Equine Sports and Medicine Rehabilitation
Center (KESMARC) which has state of the art pools, in ground treadmills, a salt
water spa, hyperbaric chamber and a vibrating platform which promotes
circulation and hoof growth this piece of equipment is the result of work done
by NASA to help astronauts maintain muscle mass in space. I was really excited
to hear about the KESMARC internship opportunities which sound like a great fit
for our Biology and Equine students.
Click here to visit the KESMARC site.
Our third stop of the day was Keeneland Race Course and Sale
Facility. This was the equivalent of two stops as we learned about how the
sales work, (how much money changes hands at the sales – scary!) and toured
that facility. We then walked out to the race course to learn about their
challenges of switching from dirt footing to PolyTrack and now back to dirt and
how much has been done to improve the safety of the track for horses and in my
opinion fairness of the track for bettors. We ate lunch in the beautiful
grounds surrounding the track and then loaded back into the bus to head to Rood
& Riddle Equine Hospital. Our tour guide was the son of Dr. Rood and did a
wonderful job of guiding us through the expansive equine hospital. We were
particularly impressed with the podiatry unit where farriers design and create
all kinds of amazing shoes to address multiple equine problems.
Central Kentucky Riding for Hope located
in the KY Horse Park welcomed us into their new building and expansive indoor
arena. We learned about their program through the National Guard for their members
who are at risk. They also have an alternative school that meets at their
center and incorporates the TH program into the curriculum. Their volunteer
coordinator shared that they regularly work with 600 volunteers plus another
couple of hundred that work special events throughout the year. Our final stop
for the day was Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement which came about because of
one man’s dream to provide retired racehorses with a life after the track. Michael
Blowen retired as a film critic for the Boston Globe and made his dream a
reality. The farm houses 120 horses many of which are stallions and is funded
solely through donations. He is an engaging person to listen to as he feeds the
horses carrots and tells their stories.
Will write more about the conference and
the second day of farm tours in a later post.
 |
| Midway College uses the barn walls to educate! |
 |
| KESMARC Equine Swimming Pool |
 |
| Building where the horses are prepared right before they are presented for sale at Keeneland |
 |
| Keeneland racetrack and grandstand |
 |
| Central KY Riding for Hope indoor arena |
 |
| Rood & Riddle Podiatry Center |
 |
| Old Friends Farm residents |
No comments:
Post a Comment