Kentucky will be on a world stage for 16 days during the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and during that time one display in the Equine Village will ask visitors, “Where else for an equine education?” The answer can be found in the display itself, the result of a unique collaboration among universities and colleges in Kentucky with equine programs.

The consortium of schools has banded together to let the world know that there is no better place to pursue an equine education than at a Kentucky university or college. It is the horse capital of the world, and in the opinion of the Kentucky universities and colleges collaborating on the shared display, Kentucky could make a case for being the equine higher education capital of the world as well.

This unique collaboration has been led and funded by the University of Kentucky’s Equine Initiative and the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program. The two programs have been collaborating closely in recent years. 

"There has been national attention given to the unprecedented degree of collaboration between the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky over the last four years on post-secondary equine education conferences, foreign tours and specialized courses, as well as on a variety of broader projects, such as the first Kentucky Youth Horse Festival and also the World Equestrian Games,” said Rich Wilcke, director of the University of Louisville Equine Industry Program.

“This unique and highly effective cooperation between UK's College of Agriculture and UofL's College of Business has been to the benefit of both the equine industry and the taxpayers of the commonwealth. It has also enabled the other private and public colleges in the state that offer horse courses to benefit from this spirit of statewide harmony."

Nancy Cox, associate dean for research of UK's College of Agriculture and administrative leader for the Equine Initiative echoed that sentiment. “The theme ‘Where else for an equine education?’ says a lot.  It says that our goal, as we welcome the Games, is to send a collective message about our strong individual offerings.  We have learned a lot about each other during the planning, and each program offers unique and valuable strengths.  The best thing about the consortium is that the partners have created a strong foundation for continued collaboration to serve our students and the commonwealth.”Programs represented, in addition to UK and UofL, are Asbury University, Georgetown College, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Midway College, Morehead State University, Murray State University and Western Kentucky University.

The consortium has also created a website that lists each of the participating partners. Please visit www.kentuckyequineeducation.org to find out more