LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Equine Youth Festival returns to the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena March 27 to showcase the horse to school children and equine youth groups. Registration begins at 8 a.m. 

During the event, which is being staged by the Kentucky 4-H Horse Program in conjunction with the University of Kentucky’s Ag Equine Programs, students from across Kentucky, as well as neighboring states, will have the opportunity to see several breeds of horses perform live demonstrations of equestrian sport in a variety of disciplines, including jumping, stock horse versatility, vaulting, driving with a variety of breeds, Arabian Horse versatility and gaited breeds, including those native to Kentucky. Other educational opportunities include up-close-and-personal sessions about vaulting, horse dentistry, therapy horses, size comparisons of different breeds and biomechanics of jockeys and racehorses.

With a theme of “Celebrating the Horse,” this year’s festival builds upon the first one held in 2010, where nearly 6,000 school-aged children representing 102 schools or groups from across Kentucky packed the venue to watch world-renowned elite equestrian athletes demonstrate the disciplines of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“This year’s Kentucky Equine Youth Festival promises to be an educational and rewarding experience. The UK College of Agriculture is happy to join with our partner organizations in celebrating two of Kentucky’s signature assets, the horse and our youth,” said Jimmy Henning, associate dean for extension and director of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. “We are happy to be a part of this special day at the Kentucky Horse Park, as well as every day and across the state through our 4-H equine programs at our county extension offices.”

New this year is an art contest with the theme, “What Horses Mean to Kentucky.” Art entries submitted by children for the festival will be exhibited and winners will be revealed during the event. 

The event’s planning partners include the Equine Academy at Lexington Catholic High School, Equine Land Conservation Resource, Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Equine Education Project, Kentucky Horse Council, Kentucky Horse Park, United States Equestrian Federation and the United States Pony Clubs. 

The event’s major sponsors include the Bluegrass Palomino Horse Association, North American Equine Ranching Information Council, Race for Education, United States Equestrian Federation and the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program. 

Youth interested in attending may still register at http://cms.education.ky.gov/formserv/?
id=2013_Kentucky_Equine_Youth_Festival_Registration More information about the Kentucky Equine Youth Festival can be found at www2.ca.uky.edu/afs/4hhorse/KyEquineYouthFestival

ROCKFORD, Ohio — On March 1, the Parkway FFA held their very first apple pie bake-off. Students brought their pies in the morning and later that day they were judged by various community members. The winner was Whitney Rollins with Rachel Hesse coming in a close second. Finally, Trinity Leistner came in third place. There were 31 pies brought in for judging.

National FFA unveils app for New Horizons magazine

FRANKLIN, Tenn. –– Journal Communications and the National FFA Organization recently announced the launch of an FFA New Horizons magazine mobile app for Apple, Android and Kindle Fire devices. The app is free and available in the iTunes store, Google Play store and Amazon marketplace.

FFA New Horizons magazine is the member publication for the National FFA Organization. The magazine is published by Journal Communications and delivered quarterly to more than 500,000 student members, agriculture educators and FFA alumni.

The app features content from the FFA New Horizons magazine, including stories about FFA members’ achievements, agriculture facts, information about careers in agriculture, and issues facing the agriculture industry and community. 

Additional features include a mobile-friendly design with vertical scrolling for readability, pop-up captions and info boxes containing additional information, live links throughout, embedded video within advertisements and photo slideshows. The app will be updated quarterly with new content. 

Visit ffanewhorizons.org/digital-magazine for more information about FFA New Horizons magazine and ffa.org for more information about the National FFA Organization. 

ELMWOOD, Ill. — At this year’s 48th National Farm Machinery Show last month in Louisville, Ky., farmers registered for a chance to direct a donation from LG Seeds in the amount of $1,000 to their local FFA or 4-H Club of choice.  Olivia Clark of Hopkinsville, Ky., was the contest winner and elected for LG Seeds to donate the $1,000 to the Christian County FFA in Kentucky.

Clark is not only an agriculture instructor at Christian County High School, but also the FFA’s advisor. Clark said, “I was quite shocked and surprised to find out I was the contest winner. It is always exciting to hear of extra money to be available to help out with the many expenses that the FFA organization has to support the students in contests, recreational events and leadership events through the year. When I shared with my dad about how the Christian County FFA would receive the money, he was excited to hear it since he plants LG Seeds on his farm and was glad to hear they support the FFA.”

Clark’s students were beyond ecstatic upon hearing the news. Student Charles Ellis states, “It’s a great surprise and honor. With it, we can better improve our chapter or we can use it help under-privileged people join the FFA or our agriculture program. With this check, we can rise to the occasion and reach new heights.”  

LG Seeds’ Brand Supply Manager and Illinois 4-H Foundation Board Member, Eric Yoder, is equally elated about the donation. “LG Seeds is excited to support such great youth organizations such as 4-H and FFA.  They teach kids public speaking, professionalism and responsibility. It makes perfect sense to support great young people that are building their skills to come looking to us for a job someday soon.”

LG Seeds, based in Elmwood, Ill.,, is a producer and marketer of seed corn, soybean and alfalfa seed, operating throughout the U.S. Corn Belt.