Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) announced that it will move its Ithaca, New York-based Equine Drug Testing and Research Lab to the University of Kentucky's Coldstream Research Campus, it was announced at a Friday press conference.
The relocation of the lab, expected to be completed during the first week of December, will create a dozen specialized new jobs and a capital investment of nearly $1.5 million to the Commonwealth. USEF CEO John Long said five staffers currently employed in the Ithaca office will make the move to a building now being prepared at 1509 Bull Lea Road, in Coldstream.
"We have been talking about this relocation now for a couple of years. We would not have been able to do this without the help of the Beshear Administration and the tax law passed by the legislature," Long said citing tax incentives that made the move easier for the USEF, which is headquartered at the Kentucky Horse Park.
According the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, the USEF was preliminarily approved by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority for up to $300,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive can be earned over a 10-year period through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments. The average annual approved amount to be earned by USEF is $30,000.
The 7,500 square-foot space the USEF will occupy will serve as the testing facilities for equestrian sports. It is estimated that 15,000 blood and urine samples from horses in competition nationwide will be tested in Lexington once the facility is operational. Unlike horse racing, in which drug standards vary by state, the USEF governs all sport horse competitions taking place nationally.
The facility will also be home to a safety research lab that will help prevent catastrophic "rotational" falls during eventing competitions. When a horse misses a jump and falls forward with its rear quarters above its head, the horse often sustains injuries that result in euthanasia and imperils the rider who can be crushed by the falling animal.
Since a rash of rotational falls, including two high-profile incidents during the 2008 Rolex Three Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park, the USEF along with other organizations have worked to create new jumps that would fall apart upon contact from a horse rather than cause such falls.
The USEF will partner with the U.S. Eventing Association and the University of Kentucky's College of Engineering to further design more jumps that utilize frangible pins that allow for a horse to safely miss a jump. The facility will also work on other types of safer jumps that will allow hurdles to collapse or be made of soft material to prevent rotational falls. "Most of the jumps" during the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will utilize this type of technology, Long said.