{"id":25828,"date":"2021-09-10T13:58:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T17:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=25828"},"modified":"2021-09-10T13:58:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T17:58:45","slug":"maryland-horse-library-and-education-center-designated-part-of-the-maryland-horse-park-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2021\/09\/10\/maryland-horse-library-and-education-center-designated-part-of-the-maryland-horse-park-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Horse Library and Education Center Designated Part of the Maryland Horse Park System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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ANNAPOLIS, MD<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 The Maryland Horse Library and Education Center was designated by the Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB) as the Educational and Cultural Center of the Maryland Horse Park System. The new, multi-faceted facility will honor the history and importance of Maryland\u2019s horse industry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaryland is home to over 100,000 horses, more horses per square mile than any other state,\u201d said Secretary Joe Bartenfelder. \u201cWith over 40 equine disciplines practiced right here in Maryland and premiere horse events held year-round, our state\u2019s equestrian industry is world-renowned. This center will teach Marylanders and visitors from around the world about the remarkable contributions of our horse industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Construction of the 4,500-square-foot center is expected to begin in September and will be open to the public by spring 2022. The center will be located in the Maryland Horse Breeders Association\u2019s (MHBA\u2019s) building in historic Reisterstown, centrally located close to Pimlico Race Course, Sagamore Farm, and other popular equine destinations. Once completed, the facility will house over 1,000 equestrian books, a memorabilia area, versatile meeting rooms, a media center, interactive kiosks and rotating exhibits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis one-of-a-kind facility in Maryland will serve as a central learning and research hub for horse sports in the state,\u201d said MHIB Chair Jim Steele. \u201cIt is our intention for the center to educate the public about the breadth of Maryland\u2019s horse industry and to motivate them to get involved. I want to thank all of the individuals who have been involved in making the center a reality, it is your hardwork and dedication that has made this all possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of the state’s efforts to enhance and increase interest in the Maryland horse industry, the MHIB established the Maryland Horse Park System. The Maryland Horse Park System is made up of three venues: an outdoor and field equestrian competition facility; an indoor competition and exhibition arena; and an educational and cultural center. To identify these three locations, the MHIB and the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) commissioned the Maryland Stadium Authority (MSA) to perform a study in 2011.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon the conclusion of the study and improvements made to each facility, the Fair Hill Special Events Zone in Elkton was designated the outdoor and field equestrian competition venue and the Prince George\u2019s Equestrian Center was named the indoor competition and exhibition arena.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the study found a need for an educational and cultural center. To fill this need, the Maryland Horse Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the MHBA, started planning and fundraising for the construction of the center. The foundation is responsible for the center\u2019s development and maintenance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe goals of the center align perfectly with the Maryland Horse Park System\u2019s overall mission to promote and increase interest in the state\u2019s horse industry,\u201d said MHBA Executive Director Cricket Goodall. \u201cWe are thrilled to be designated as part of the Maryland Horse Park System and are excited to showcase the legacy of Maryland\u2019s iconic equine sector.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information about the Maryland Horse Park System, please contact MHIB\u2019s Executive Director Ross Peddicord at (240) 344-0000 or <\/span>ross.peddicord@maryland.gov<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>For additional details about the Maryland Horse Library and Education Center, please contact MHBA\u2019s Executive Director Crickett Goodall at (410) 252-2100 or <\/span>cricket@marylandthoroughbred.com<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

# # #<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter <\/span>@MdAgDept<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ANNAPOLIS, MD\u00a0\u2013 The Maryland Horse Library and Education Center was designated by the Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB) as the Educational and Cultural Center of the Maryland Horse Park System. The new, multi-faceted facility will honor the history and importance of Maryland\u2019s horse industry.\u00a0 \u201cMaryland is home to over 100,000 horses, more horses per square  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25828"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25830,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25828\/revisions\/25830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}