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Projects aimed at making World Equestrian Games greener

Volunteers from across the state grabbed a shovel and got to work planting native Kentucky plants alongside a tributary of Cane Run Creek, which flows through the Kentucky Horse Park.

The goal of the planting project, organized by personnel from the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, was to employ best management practices to help improve the water quality of the creek in Fayette and Scott counties.

“We’re trying to do some plantings along the bank to help take up a lot of the excess nutrients, provide a lot of shade, cool the water and increase our dissolved oxygen,” said Russ Turpin, extension associate with the UK Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering.

The project is one of several that college personnel are undertaking in the watershed thanks to an Environmental Protection Agency Section 319 grant administered through the Kentucky Division of Water.

In addition to the structural improvements, education is also a big component of the watershed MORE

Tags: cane run, college of agriculture, ky horse park, university of kentucky, water quality
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Building a better bean-UK researchers get more oil from soybeans

When Rudolf Diesel revealed his three-year-old invention, the diesel engine, to the world at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris, he ran it on peanut oil.

In the days before gas and diesel pumps were on every corner, Diesel envisioned his engines would consume locally-available vegetable and seed oils. He hoped his invention would enable independent farmers, craftsmen and artisans to compete with large industries that then virtually monopolized the predominant power source of the late 19th century – the oversized, expensive, inefficient steam engine.

University of Kentucky researcher David Hildebrand is trying to return the diesel engine to its roots. He and his colleagues in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences are using biotechnology to genetically engineer a soybean that yields more oil. Soybean oil, commonly known as vegetable oil, is combined with petroleum-based diesel fuel to create a cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel that Hildebrand believes will help reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign petroleum.

Tags: agritourism, diesel, university of kentucky
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In ways big and small, the College of Agriculture has contributed to the preparations being made

The collective equine world turns its attention to Lexington, Ky., for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and its first ever appearance outside of Europe from Sept. 25 to Oct. 10 at the Kentucky Horse Park. In ways big and small, the College of Agriculture has contributed to the preparations being made. Read more about how the College will be involved and ways you can participate.

Endurance race

The Maine Chance Equine Campus, UK’s research and teaching horse farm in north Lexington, will host several legs of the endurance event. The race, which covers 100 total miles in one day, is expected to cross over the farm several times as horses complete loops across Central Kentucky horse farms then travel back to the Kentucky Horse Park for mandated vet checks.

UK Village (volunteers needed - read more below!)

UK HealthCare is the official medical provider of the Games, and with that designation, UK is considered a major partner and the Equine Initiative the official equine university program of the Games. Part of this sponsorship includes a presence in the “UK Village,” a 3,229-square-foot tent that will be located in the trade fair area. The College will be one of three anchors in the UK Village, along with UK HealthCare and UK Public Relations.

Student volunteer program (volunteers needed - read more below!)

The Equine Initiative has developed a collaborative student volunteer program for College students with the World Equestrian Games. The aim of the formal program is to place College students in specific areas during the Games that are of interest to them and may help them achieve personal and professional goals after graduation. More.

Tags: 2010 FEI world equestrian games, college of agriculture, university of kentucky, volunteers
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Horse art exhibition to coincide with 2010 World Games

The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky will stage an exhibition on the horse in American Art to coincide with the World Equestrian Games in 2010.It says the exhibition, entitled Hoofbeats and Heartbeats, will be the first significant exhibition to critically examine the role of the horse in American art, history and culture.

More than 50 paintings and sculptures from museums across the country will be assembled to reflect four themes: The horse as a symbol of the hero, as an emblem of freedom, the horse at work, and the horse in people’s hearts. More.

Tags: 2010 FEI world equestrian games, art exhibit, Equine, gallery, uk, university of kentucky
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‘Greening’ the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games

When the world comes to Kentucky next September, we want to put our greenest foot forward.

That’s according to Carol Hanley, director of engagement in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture and Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability & the Environment.

Hanley said to accomplish that, the Bluegrass Partnership for a Green Community is working with the Kentucky Horse Park and the FEI World Equestrian Games team to implement green projects, such as recycling, sustainability measures in hotels and restaurants, and introducing native plant species at the Horse Park.

“Our European visitors have a different standard of sustainability and we want to make a good impression and welcome them to the Bluegrass State,” Hanley said.

Green Friends of the Games is a fundraising initiative that will give Kentuckians the opportunity to help make the 2010 Games greener and reduce their environmental impact. It aims to fund green projects that include, among others, permanent recycling centers to promote recycling at the event and smaller portable recycling stations. Green Friends of the Games is also engaged in planting native species and gardens along Cane Run Creek, which runs through the Kentucky Horse Park. The Bluegrass partnership hopes to fund other projects through the Green Friends Program. Benches, sculptures, gardens, and bike racks along the Legacy Trail, running from downtown Lexington to the Kentucky Horse Park, are under consideration, as are biofuels as fuel for visitor transportation, and green power might also be purchased. There are local food, education, and hospitality initiatives and green events for Spotlight Lexington, a festival to be held downtown during the Games. Spotlight Lexington will consist of entertainment, cultural, and artistic activities. More.

Tags: college of agriculture, environment, FEI world games, green, ky world games, university of kentucky, world equestrian games
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