Equine Education
The Fund makes annual grants for broad-based support to the statewide 4-H program centered at Cornell, helping to provide youngsters with educational opportunities and information on possible careers within the breeding and racing industries.
The dedicated staff and volunteers involved in this program expose young people to a variety of equine experiences. These include tours of regional harness tracks, career exploration tours of racing and breeding facilities. Monies from the Fund also help to underwrite costs associated with supplies and training for 4-H staff members. This includes updating educational materials such as books, visual aids and videos. Distribution of the NYS 4-H Horse Program newsletter “Unbridled Thoughts” has been considerably strengthened since it was put on the website of the Cornell Department of Animal Science in 2005.
The Fund is also a sponsor of a Standardbred Management Camp for youth at Camp Wyomoco in Varysburg, New York. The 4-H Standardbred Camp is a one-week program for teenagers interested in learning about Standardbred horses and harness racing. A total of 25 youth and five adult volunteers attend this camp each year. Topics of discussion at the camp each year include: the evolution of the harness horse, safety around the horse and stable, grooming equipment and techniques, pre-race care, introduction to conditioning the harness horse, and more.
Standardbred day clinics are another popular feature of the statewide program. Approximately 10 of these clinics are held at farms, county show grounds, local schools, or county fairs, while others culminate as a race track tour and a night at the races.
The Fund also helps to support “The Kids and Horse Tent” at the New York State Fair in Syracuse. This tent is managed by volunteers and staffed by 4-H youth. Approximately 8,000 to 10,000 youth and adults visit the tent each year.
Fostering young people’s interest in the equine industry is essential to perpetuating the standardbred breeding and racing industries in New York State. The Fund is proud to sponsor these important 4-H programs.
