While many members of the public are eagerly awaiting the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, no one may be chomping at the bit more than Lexington's National Horse Center.
The NHC, located at the Kentucky Horse Park, has over 30 member organizations. Many of them moved here from other states, as their directors realized the advantages of proximity both to each other and the Horse Park. Moving both employees and events here has contributed not only enthusiasm but also millions of dollars to the local economy.
"One of the wonderful things about the Kentucky Horse Park, one of the treasures that many people don't realize, is that these associations chose the Horse Park to be their national homes," said Amy Walker, public relations director for the World Games 2010 Foundation. "That's one of the best reasons for WEG to be there."
Some NHC associations serve the interests of particular breeds of horses, such as the National Walking Horse Association, the Pyramid Society (Egyptian Arabian Horses), and the American Saddlebred Horse Association. They usually maintain registries for foals and rules and records for breed-only shows and competitions.
Other NHC members represent equine industry workers. They include the American Academy of Equine Practitioners, the American Farriers Association, and the American Academy of Equine Art.
Largest of the equine associations is the U.S. Equestrian Foundation, which has almost 90,000 members involved in 28 breeds and/or performance disciplines. USEF serves organizers of horse shows from small local events through the Olympics. It represents the United States in world equestrian matters.
For the equine associations, WEG is "a great way for them to grow their base, their audience," Walker explained. "With this event in the U.S. for the first time, the association can take advantage of an international audience."
One equine group expecting to do that is the American Hanoverian Society. Its executive director, Hugh Bellis-Jones, said that WEG "is going to raise the profile of sport horse competition in the U.S." He also expects that the event "will focus attention on the Hanoverian breed, which is the world's number one dressage breed, and increase interest in Warm Blood horses."
Ginny Grulke is executive director of the Kentucky Horse Council, which is probably best known for its efforts to help abandoned and malnourished horses. She hopes that WEG "will increase our membership. We expect that a lot of visitors from the rest of Kentucky. Most of our membership is weighted toward central Kentucky, so our goal is to get that spread across the state."
Noting that "70-80 percent of the horses in Kentucky are non-Thoroughbreds," Grulke explained that, "They're under the radar. WEG elevates Kentucky, to visitors from anywhere, in the interest of non-horse racing horses."
Besides being the first WEG to be held in the United States, the 2010 Games will also "be the first to feature an Equine Pavilion," said Holley Groshek, WEG's director of equine relations and protocol. "This concept, initiated by the U.S. Equestrian Federation and the Kentucky Horse Park, is the 2010 Games's gift to the equine community."
Groshek explained that the centrally-located Equine Pavilion "will house booth exhibits from various equine organizations and a number of world-class equine demonstrations and special events." She described what exhibiting equine associations will present as "educational, entertaining and family-friendly."
Besides opportunities for interacting with visitors in the Equine Pavilion, WEG will benefit the NHC's equine associations in numerous other ways. Chances to network through organized events and chance encounters, and television and print coverage, will allow them to find new members and customers.
Other benefits may be less tangible. Central Kentucky Riding for Hope has offered its facility and trained volunteers for use by para-equestrian competitors. For the children who receive equine therapy at CKRH, encounters with these riders could bring much inspiration.
Walker predicted that "one of the greatest legacies of this event is that it puts Kentucky as the Horse Capital of the World in an international spotlight." She added, "In the equestrian world, this is the highest level - eight world championships. Now that the Olympics are over, we're the next big event."