The Oleika Shrine Rodeo is coming to town!  This Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17, at the KHP’s Alltech Arena, the dust starts flying at 7:30 pm.  

Events include Bareback Broncs, Saddle Broncs, Calf Roping, Steer Wrestling, Barrel Racing, Team Roping, and Bull Riding.

Don’t miss the rootin’, tootin’ action brought to you by the Oleika Shrine Temple in partnership with Chrysler on Nicholasville.  For more information, go to www.OleikaRodeo.com.

Download a poster at:  http://oleikashrine.org/images/stories/2012oleikarodeoposter.pdf

Admission -

General admission - $10.00 in advance, or $12.00 at the door

Two-day pass - $15.00 in advance or $17.00 at the door.  

Free – Kids 10 and under

Location and Parking-

Alltech Arena

Dates and Times –

            Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17, 2012

            Doors open at 6:00 pm

            Rodeo starts at 7:30 pm

LEXINGTON, KY (October 17, 2012)  It’s not just area children who dress up in costumes for Halloween.  In Kentucky, horses do, too!  On Sunday, October 28, at 2:00 pm, the Kentucky Horse Park will present its annual Halloween Show where park horses and their riders are likely to show up in just about anything – from a scary headless horseman, cranky wicked witch, hip 60’s chick, swashbuckling pirates, genie with a bottle, Phantom of the Opera – it’s different every year.

Throughout the day, the park will offer discounted admission to guests who arrive in costume: adult admission will be $12.00 (normally $16.00) and children 12 and under will get in free (normally $8.00) (no full-head masks, please).  Treats will be given out to children and dogs upon arrival at the park, and prizes will be awarded for best adult costume, best child costume and best dog costume (dogs required to be on a leash at all times).

Not to be left out, the KHP Campground produces the annual Halloween Campout over two weekends, October 19-21 and 26-28.  Campers have a frightfully good time with costume contests, trick or treating, kid’s crafts, golf cart parade, entertainment and more.  The event is sponsored in part by Northside RVs, Halloween Express and the KHP Foundation.  Full service sites are full for 2012, but the campground has unlimited primitive camping still available at $19/night.  For information or reservations, contact (859)259-4257, (800)370-6416 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

For more information about the Halloween Show, the public may contact the Kentucky Horse Park at (859)233-4303 or (800)678-8813 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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The Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm/theme park and equine competition facility dedicated to man's relationship with the horse. The park is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and hosted more than 825,000 visitors and campers, as well as 15,000 competition horses in more than 200 special events and horse shows in 2011. The park is home to the National Horse Center which comprises more than 30 national and regional equine organizations.  Located at Exit 120, Interstate 75, just north of Lexington, the Kentucky Horse Park is The place to get close to horses.  Open daily March 15 to Nov. 4, and Wednesday through Sunday, Nov. 5 to March 15.

Breyer’s Annual Fest Features Knights of Valour and Shane Adams from The History Channel’s Full Metal Jousting, Sylvia Zerbini’s Grand Liberte Act and Tommie Turvey & Odd Job Bob, Star of The Greening of Whitney Brown.

Pequannock, NJ – BreyerFest British Invasion, the horse fair and model horse extravaganza hosted by Breyer®, has announced its headline acts for its 23rd annual event which will be held July 20-22, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.  In honor of the London Olympics, this fun, family-friendly festival celebrates everything we love about horses and Britain!  From Will and Kate to tea, tweed and Tatler; the Beatles and the Rolling Stones; Harry Potter and everything in between, BreyerFest British Invasion will be a fun, horse-filled weekend for all ages.

Breyer’s Annual Model Horse Collector Festival and Horse Fair Celebrates
Everything We Love About Horses and Cool Britannia!

Pequannock, NJ – Mark your calendars for BreyerFest British Invasion, Breyer Animal Creation’s 23rd annual festival for horse lovers this July 20-22, 2012 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. In honor of the London Olympics, this fun, family-friendly festival will celebrate everything we love about horses and Britain!  From Will and Kate to the 2012 London Olympics; tea, tweed and Tatler; the Beatles and the Rolling Stones; Harry Potter and everything in between, BreyerFest British Invasion will be a fun frolic for all ages!

2012 Celebration to be held May 2 at Kentucky Horse Park   

FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 17, 2012) – First Lady Jane Beshear today announced the 15^th Annual Celebration of Hope, an annual gathering of cancer survivors, will offer some exciting new changes. For the first time in the history of the event, the Celebration will be held during the week leading up to Derby, on Wednesday, May 2, instead of the Monday following the race.  

Additionally, the Celebration is moving out of Frankfort to the world-renowned Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. 

USDA NEWS RELEASE
Hallie Zimmers
National Stakeholder Liaison
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
202-720-0378 or 202-799-7029

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) Animal Care Program will hold listening sessions throughout the United States [including the Kentucky Horse Park] to obtain public feedback on the Horse Protection Program.  In particular, APHIS is interested in hearing feedback on the questions below:
 
•         Congress passed the Horse Protection Act in 1970 to eliminate the cruel and inhumane practice of soring horses. How close are we to achieving the goal?
 
•         Can the industry achieve a consensus on how to carry out a self-regulatory program to enforce the Horse Protection Act in a consistent way?
 
•         What responsibilities should USDA-certified Horse Industry Organizations (HIOs) have within the industry?
 
•         How can the industry reconcile its inherent competition aspect with ensuring compliance with the Horse Protection Act?
               
•         What can USDA do now (and in the future) to ensure compliance?
 
•         What responsibilities should USDA have within the industry with respect to enforcement and what hinders oversight of the HIOs and/or industry?
 
•         Should there be a prohibition of all action devices?
 
•         Should there be a prohibition of pads?
 
•         Currently the Horse Protection regulations have a shoe weight limit on yearlings. Should there now be a shoe weight limit for all aged horses?
 
A listening session is planned on March 15, 9am to 1pm, Kentucky Horse Park (South Theatre), 4089 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY 40511
 
 
Speakers will be limited to 5 minutes in order to ensure everyone registered will have the opportunity to have their comments heard.  If you have written comments, you may leave them with the USDA officials at the session. 
 
Online registration is available on the APHIS Animal Care website at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/events_reg.shtml
 
We look forward to your comments in order to ensure the success of the USDA APHIS Horse Protection Program.  If you have any questions, you may contact Dr. Rachel Cezar at (301)851-3746 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
 
Further information is also available at: www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/hp

Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center partners with Central Kentucky Riding for Hope
on innovative program that needs support

Lexington, KY (February 16, 2012) – “Beautiful.” “Balance.” “Strength.” “Friend." “I trust you.” These are just a few affirmations written in chalk that appeared last fall on the shiny coats of the horses of Central Kentucky Riding for Hope (CKRH) at the Kentucky Horse Park. The words were written by survivors of rape and childhood sexual abuse who participated in a unique pioneering collaboration between CKRH and the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center.

Called the BRCC/CKRH EAST Group, the innovative experience built upon the existing eight-week BRCC Building Blocks Group curriculum and provided equine-assisted skills experiences that capitalize on the long-established horse-human bond to promote healing. The name EAST (Equine Assisted Survivors of Trauma) fits perfectly with the collaboration's objective to provide survivors of sexual violence a new day filled with hope and promise.

The program resulted from CKRH’s desire to expand its mental health programming at its facility at the Kentucky Horse Park and BRCC’s commitment to offer cutting-edge healing opportunities to survivors of sexual violence.

Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL) and Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) are based on a team approach by individuals who are licensed and credentialed in their respective professions. The pilot EAST Group therapy team consisted of Lee Ellis, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a therapist at BRCC; Leigh Koetsch, B.A., a crisis counselor at BRCC; and Charlotte Easley, a graduate student in the Master of Social Work program at Asbury University who is interning at CKRH. Easley, who graduates in May, had interned at BRCC last year; with the support and encouragement of CKRH Program Director Denise Spittler, she approached Ellis and Koetsch about the collaboration. The four women worked enthusiastically to create a brave new model for healing and hope in Central Kentucky while realizing the potential power of the partnership – both inter-agency and with the equine.

“When Charlotte first approached me with the idea of a collaborative group to maximize healing for sexual trauma survivors, I immediately knew that it would be a fantastic way to enrich healing through the unique strengths of both BRCC and CKRH” Ellis said.

Easley, who has specialized training and certifications to provide equine assisted learning and psychotherapy, explained the program: “All EAST sessions consisted of non-mounted activities where group members partnered with their horses to complete tasks designed to put the skills learned in BRCC’s Building Blocks group into practice. The Building Blocks Curriculum was developed by BRCC and has been used successfully for group work many times. We just understood that adding the equine component would take the results to the next level.”

Over eight weeks, participants met as a group for the BRCC psycho-educational component, Building Blocks, and met individually with their therapists. Once a week they gathered at CKRH for the EAST Group, which combined psycho-education, skills building, and equine-assisted learning to create a personal journey of therapeutic healing. From walking to the field to catch and halter their horses to meditating, from serpentine walking to grooming, survivors participated in exercises designed to assist them in working through common symptoms of trauma, such as trust issues, relationship challenges, hyper-vigilance and post-traumatic stress.

Results of the initial program
Equine-assisted activities and therapies have been documented to be an effective experiential approach to emotional and intellectual growth. Based on pre- and post-surveys of the inaugural EAST Group, participants improved their coping and relational skills and reduced their traumatic symptoms by 33%. Responses included:
 “I gained confidence in my ability to handle stress.”
 “I feel calmer and more confident in how I handle my relationships.”
 “It helped me make relationship connections.”

In addition, participants gained confidence in working with horses and in their abilities to interact successfully with their horse and others:
 “I feel more confident in how I read people and relationships and learned from the horse about the signals I send.”
 “I learned a lot from group and the work with the horses. I think my horse made the difference.”
 
When asked about the value of the combined group and the ability to better manage emotions, symptoms and interpersonal relationships, the overall consensus was that adding the equine component enhanced the therapeutic process for clients:
 “The personality of my horse matched mine so well; he taught me so many things I could not have discovered on my own.”
 “Animals and music cut through the layers of my defenses faster than anything else – awesome combination.”

These results have encouraged continued collaboration between the two agencies in a commitment to provide the best possible services to survivors of sexual trauma in Central Kentucky. However, financial support is needed for the program to continue.

CKRH and BRCC need your help
CKRH (www.ckrh.org), which was founded in 1981, is dedicated to enriching the community by improving the quality of life and the health of children and adults with special physical, cognitive, emotional and social needs through therapeutic activities with the horse.

The Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center (www.bluegrassrapecrisis.org) provides free counseling, therapy and advocacy to survivors of sexual assault and abuse, adult survivors of sexual abuse, and anyone impacted by sexual violence. In keeping with that mission, the EAST Group is offered to participants free of charge; however, the program needs financial help to continue. For BRCC and CKRH, the cost to provide a two-hour session for up to eight people is approximately $660. Therefore, both organizations invite businesses, individuals and others to support a person or a session at the cost of $660 OR sponsor an entire group for $3,300.

Lexington, KY – (February 22, 2012) – Entries are being taken for the inaugural show for off-the-track Thoroughbreds conducted by the Thoroughbred Horse Show Association (TBHS) on April 14-15 at the Kentucky Horse Park. The TBHS Spring Show is geared for Thoroughbreds just starting their show careers with entry-level divisions in multiple disciplines, including dressage, combined training, hunter/jumper and competitive trail riding. TBHS will hold a second show at the Horse Park on October 6-7, and is working with rescue organizations and others to hold additional events.

“I've received phone calls from people who are interested in the show from West Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C., in addition to Kentucky,” TBHS Executive Director Jan Roehl said. “One woman from West Virginia said she wanted to bring her ex-racehorses just so she could ride them at the Kentucky Horse Park. Some people want to come a day or two early to enjoy Lexington.”

TBHS (tbhorseshow.org) was founded in 2011 by a group of Central Kentuckians interested in creating opportunities to showcase the talent and competitive spirit of off-the-track Thoroughbreds. Horses must be entered in the TBHS shows using their registered names with The Jockey Club.

Horses competing in the TBHS Spring Show will be eligible for The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) High Point Awards. The Jockey Club will award ribbons, prizes and $100 to the winner with the highest number of points in the following divisions: Starter Hunter, Hunter, Jumper, Beginner Novice Combined Test, Training Level Dressage, and First Level Dressage.

Officials of the Spring Show include Dressage Judge Susan Posner, Hunter Judge Shelley Mann, Showmanship Judge Samantha Kline and Technical Delegate Joe Carr. John Prather is the Show Manager, and Tina Desjordy is the Show Secretary. The opening reception for participants on April 13 will include a talk with Posner about how to get the most from a Thoroughbred in the dressage ring. Posner is a noted dressage trainer who has ridden and trained ex-racehorses. The show also will include a seminar titled “Ins and Outs of Feeding Your OTTB” with Kristen Janicki from Buckeye Feeds; tips from Mann on show ring etiquette and what to do if things don't go as planned in the show ring; and a presentation about success in showmanship by Samantha Kline. Former jockey P.J. Cooksey, director of public relations for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, will emcee the opening reception and present awards on Saturday.

To date, the Spring Show has received generous support from the following patrons: Adena Springs, Akindale Farm, Bantry Farms, Buckeye Nutrition, Darley, Ellen Frost, John and Devi Hall, Juddmonte Farms, Kris S. Bloodstock LLC (Kris Stuebs), New Vocations, Pauls Mill, Siena Farm, Taylor Made Farm and WindRiver Fence. Information about the event, including a schedule and class list, class descriptions, rules and information and entry form, is available at tbhorseshow.org.

The TBHS offers an annual membership of $25 and to date has members from 17 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario. Benefits include a monthly electronic newsletter; assistance in promoting and encouraging Thoroughbred adoptions; email notification about horses entered in TBHS and affiliated shows by their registered name with The Jockey Club; and networking social events with like-minded people and organizations. Members of the TBHS also become members of the Kentucky Horse Council at no charge and are able to receive a discount on insurance premiums and weekly e-News with links to articles pertaining to everything in the equine world in Kentucky.

For more information, contact Jan Roehl at (859) 559-1409 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Photo by Gayle Strickroot.

Media Accreditation/Press Credentials
Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, Presented by Bridgestone
April 26-29, 2012
and
Ariat Kentucky Reining Cup
April 27-28, 2012

CLICK HERE FOR APPLICATION

The Competitions
The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, presented by Bridgestone, April 26-29, 2012 will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, along with the Ariat Kentucky Reining Cup. The event draws anywhere from 50-100,000 spectators and is seen by millions more on worldwide telecasts including a live telecast on NBC in the United States.
 
The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event features the 15th Rolex USEF Four Star Championship for the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation Pinnacle Cup, and is part of the HSBC FEI ClassicsTM.  The world’s best horses and riders compete for their share of $250,000 in prize money as well as a shot at the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing which is awarded to any rider who wins the Rolex Kentucky, Mitsubishi Motors Badminton and Land Rover Burghley Four Star Events in succession. 2012 will serve as a selection trial for the London Olympics held in the Summer.
 
The only Four Star Event in the Western Hemisphere, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event is the premier competition for the top horses and riders in the Olympic sport of Eventing. This year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event features selection trials to choose the U.S. Eventing Team for the 2012 London Olympic Games.  The nation’s best horses and riders will be competing in the hopes of earning places on the team for this summer’s Olympics.
 
The Ariat Kentucky Reining Cup, April 27-28, is the only Three Star Reining competition in the world in 2012, and is a qualifier for the FEI World Reining Championship.  It is expected to draw horses and riders from around the globe, vying for their share of $100,000 in prize money as they compete in the CRI3*, along with the popular $25,000 World Freestyle Championship.