What a crazy week it has been! According to http://www.rk3de.org/, Rolex brought in a total of 61,828 spectators across four days. Many of those people took at least one stroll through the trade fair. Located just inside the entrance of the indoor on the second floor, the MMSC had many people stop by to find out about the program and stop to look at our available horses board. Because so many people were interested in adopting, we ran carloads of people back and forth from the Center to try out horses Friday-Sunday. Deputy Alydar was adopted and left Monday. Benny and Mr. Informed are ready to go and just waiting for rides home. Aspen arrived at his new home and settled right in. We will also be receiving two new horses within the next few days who we are very excited about: Hap's Online and Cool Smoke. Keep an eye on our website for pictures of these flashy horses. Also on our website under the News section is an updated calendar. School will soon be out, so if you have time on your hands, don't forget to come volunteer at the Center and look for us at shows!

We would also like to give a big thank you to our Training Intern, Whitney Campbell, for getting a Photonic Health Red Light kit donated to us which includes the light itself along with many charts and books which explain how it works. We have seen such therapy used for many purposes in the past and work wonderfully.

This will be our interns last official week as their graduation will be held this Sunday at 1pm. Bryn will be going home to NH for the summer, but will return to UK next fall, and will certainly be back at the MMSC to volunteer. Whitney graduates from U of L next weekend and will be moving to Lexington. John will go back to Burlington, KY for the summer but return to finish his degree at UK in the fall.

I have enjoyed updating the blog and learning how to publish stories to the website. I hope you have found both to be informative and effective. Have a lovely, horse filled summer, and I will see you all next year!

As always, campus has been bustling with activity. The Paul Frazer Combined Test was a positive experience for our horses. Benny and Haley Barbato received a 37 on their BN dressage test. Ann Cothran rode a beautiful stadium round on Ferdy, and Shalise Gallaher gathered an 8th place in the Beginner Starter division on Fly Lite.

On March 30th, the TRF-MMSC was recognized as a Kentucky Economic Development and Tourism entity through a resolution passed by the Kentucky House. We brought Champ and Benny to greet visitors at the Capitol Building, including many school children, some of whom got to pet a horse for the first time. An article run on the event the next day can be found on the front page of The State Journal.

Our Saturday demos have kicked off to a great start. Last Saturday we crammed a record 45 people into our old horse van, Big Agnus, to transport them to the Secretariat Center. After photo opportunities with Secretariat, the group was led through the office to learn about the life cycle of a Thoroughbred and the mission of the TRF-MMSC. The kids then enjoyed brushing the horses and having a race of their own around our oval "mini track."

We have also had a lot of horses coming in and out. Rummy, Champ, and Benny will be leaving at the end of this week and Bandit went to his new home in Georgia last week. We have received four new horses to fill their spots, Racehorse Davis, Mr. Universe "Titan," Mr. Informed "Impulse," and Marked For Action. Pictures and further descriptions can be found on our website and facebook page.

The Kentucky Horse Park will be hosting the John Henry Adoption Fair this Saturday, April 17th. We would appreciate volunteers helping to get the horses ready on Friday and manning the booth on Saturday. Come out and adopt a horse, or just see Molly, the Katrina victim pony who's leg had to be amputated. See her prosthetic leg and hear her miraculous story during her guest appearance.

Tune in on Sunday the 18th and 25th at 10am for the TRF-MMSC segment that Fox Channel 56 filmed. It showcases the life of a racehorse, what happens when they come to us, and our horses receiving treatment form the vet and dentist while the interns watch and learn, getting some hands on experience.
We hope everyone gets the chance to go to Rolex next week. Feel free to stop by our booth and say hello, or sign up to work it!