By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

More than 2,400 students from 49 counties made their way to the 2013 Kentucky Equine Youth Festival at the Kentucky Horse Park last month. In the large arena they watched demonstrations of equestrian sports including jumping, vaulting and dressage. Smaller sessions included workshops on vaulting, horse dentistry and the biomechanics of jockeys and racehorses

This is the second time for the festival. The first was held in 2010 in conjunction with the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Remi Bellocq, executive director of equine programming at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, gives Stanton Elementary School (Powell County) kindergarten student Kelsey Howell some riding tips during the Kentucky Equine Youth Festival at the Kentucky Horse Park. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Remi Bellocq, executive director of equine programming at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, gives Stanton Elementary School (Powell County) kindergarten student Kelsey Howell some riding tips during the Kentucky Equine Youth Festival at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

East Hardin Middle School (Hardin County) 6th-grade student Katie Estes, second from right, tells Elissa Baertschi, left, executive director of the equine scholars program at Georgetown College, about her plans to someday open a therapeutic center for horses. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

East Hardin Middle School (Hardin County) 6th-grade student Katie Estes, second from right, tells Elissa Baertschi, left, executive director of the equine scholars program at Georgetown College, about her plans to someday open a therapeutic center for horses.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Students filled the bleachers to watch a demonstration about vaulting. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Students filled the bleachers to watch a demonstration about vaulting.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Toliver Elementary School (Danville Independent) students in Ron Ballard's 2nd-grade class play a matching game at a booth for the Meadow Lake Equestrian Center. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Toliver Elementary School (Danville Independent) students in Ron Ballard’s 2nd-grade class play a matching game at a booth for the Meadow Lake Equestrian Center.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron signs his autograph for Owen County Middle School 5th-grade student Makayla Riggs. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron signs his autograph for Owen County Middle School 5th-grade student Makayla Riggs.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Cumberland County Elementary School 4th-grade student Halee Bunch tried to ride like a jockey at a display by the North American Racing Academy. The academy was giving presentations about the biometrics of the horse and jockey. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Cumberland County Elementary School 4th-grade student Halee Bunch tried to ride like a jockey at a display by the North American Racing Academy. The academy was giving presentations about the biometrics of the horse and jockey.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Students at the Kentucky Equine Youth Festival watch a vaulting demonstration at the Kentucky Horse Park. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Students at the Kentucky Equine Youth Festival watch a vaulting demonstration at the Kentucky Horse Park.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Breckenridge County Middle School 6th-grade student Dalton Taylor watches a demonstration on a variety of horse carts. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013

Breckenridge County Middle School 6th-grade student Dalton Taylor watches a demonstration on a variety of horse carts.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 27, 2013