ARCHIVE EQUINE NEWS STORIES

Story by: Jackie Bellamy-Zions

To say EquiMania! continues to grow in popularity would be an understatement. EquiMania! will be featured at four of the top 50 agricultural fairs in North America this year! –

Georgia National Agricultural Fair, October 4 -14,
Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), August 17 - September 3,
Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Nov 2 – 11,
Minnesota State Fair, August 23 - September 3.

“The smiles say it all when youth and family have fun learning about the wonderful world of horses,” says Equine Guelph director, Gayle Ecker. “Since 2005, EquiMania! has grown into a hugely popular travelling exhibit, gaining international awards and delighting horse lovers across North America!”

This year, EquiMania! will make a debut appearance at the Georgia National Agricultural Fair October 4 -14. With an attendance of nearly half a million people, EquiMania! anticipates ample equine escapades as the audience learns about horse care through entertaining interactive activities.

"The Georgia National Fair is very excited to bring EquiMania! to the almost 500,000 fair patrons that we will host this year,” says Philip Gentry, Agriculture/Youth Director at Georgia National Fairgrounds. “This is a new partnership that helps the Georgia National reinvest in the mission to Showcase Agriculture and be an agent for agriculture education. We are very excited to bring a hands-on, real agricultural experience to the people of Georgia. We look forward to seeing all of our friends at The EquiMania! exhibit October 4 -14 in Perry, GA!”

Visitors will learn about anatomy and biology of horses with scale models and real bones. A giant ‘tree of life’ shows the amazing journey leading up to the birth of a foal and then the first stages of life. Participants get hands on learning about wrapping horse legs, braiding tails, tools used for grooming and much more.

The engaged EquiMania! audience did not go unnoticed by Minnesota State Fair organizers in 2010, whilst featured at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.

A partnership was forged with Minnesota to completely replicate the popular exhibit. A second EquiMania! display now resides in the carriage house at Minnesota fairgrounds ready to entertain horse lovers all over the U.S.A. The debut in 2011 proved popular with Minnesota fair attendees as well as the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE). IAFE awarded the Equine Guelph/Minnesota State Fair partnership with two prestigious Awards of Excellence including: ‘Fair and Sponsor/Partner Joint Exhibit Program’and ‘Special or Specific Agricultural Educational Event, Exhibit, or Program for the Fair going Public’ for fairs with an attendance of over 1,000,000.

EquiMania! celebrates its seventh anniversary at Minnesota State Fair this August 23 – September 3. With nearly two million attendees, a steady stream of horseplay is expected when EquiMania! rides again.

On the home front in Canada, EquiMania! is pleased to announce they will feature for a third time at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE)! After appearing just a few buildings over at the Horse Capades, July 28 – August 16, EquiMania! will jog their displays over to the Better Living Centre for the CNE, August 17 – September 3, which is attended by over 1.5 million visitors every year. In fact, EquiMania! does a fair bit of trotting around Toronto – returning November 2 -11 for the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair!

The youth education program, EquiMania! operates on a zero-based budget and was developed by Equine Guelph at the University of Guelph with the support of the horse industry. Some of its corporate sponsors have been supporters for over 10 years! Thank you to the sponsors and our volunteers: ESSO, Greenhawk, Kubota Canada, Ontario Equestrian, Shur-Gain, SSG Gloves, Standardbred Canada, System Fencing and Workplace Safety and Prevention Services.

Kids can also visit EquiMania.ca to play games online and learn more about horses until their next visit to the ever popular traveling display.

To book EquiMania! for an event contact eq4kids@uoguelph.ca

Equine Guelph is the horse owners' and care givers' Centre at the University of Guelph. It is a unique partnership dedicated to the health and well-being of horses, supported and overseen by equine industry groups. Equine Guelph is the epicentre for academia, industry and government – for the good of the equine industry as a whole.

For further information, visit EquineGuelph.ca.