In October 2025, local and state leaders, neighbors, and visitors gathered downtown to cut ribbons on a brand-new City Hall, police station, and fire department. 

“I hope this will be a place where you voice your concerns and your voices are heard,” Mayor David Thompson said at the gathering. 

The new City Hall is now equipped with a Level 3 EV Charger, thanks to assistance from Rural Reimagined and the Mountain Association.  

“Every day there is a car there,” said Mayor Thompson, excitedly sharing a story with the crowd about how he taps on each car’s window to find out where they are coming from. “It’s bringing people off the highway and into our downtown.”  

“EV drivers often plan trips around chargers,” said Marcia Dixon, the tourism director. “This positions Barbourville as a must-stop, where visitors can enjoy the charm of downtown and visit our historic sites.” 

The event also marked the launch of Yodel, a new automated shared calendar designed to make it easier for the community and its visitors to stay connected with what’s happening in Barbourville. Claudia Greenwood with the Barbourville Chamber of Commerce, described the frustration both event planners and the community felt in trying to advertise the town’s many happenings.  

“A lot of people were saying, ‘Well, we would have come if we had known about the festival or whatever event it may be.’ Now, with Yodel, those events are going to be easier to find and share.” 

The platform automatically gathers events from Facebook into one big master calendar. Barbourville received funding for Yodel through their participation in What’s Next EKY’s Community Accelerator program in partnership with the Mountain Association. The initiative was organized by leaders from Union Commonwealth University, the Chamber, and many other partners. 

Overall, the day was a wonderful celebration of what can happen in a small town when people come together. Senator Robert Stivers, who grew up in the area and helped secure funding for the new buildings, said it well, “It’s a chain — a strong chain — of people bringing issues to us, giving us an opportunity to make things happen.” 

EV Charging in Eastern Kentucky: Funded by a $65,000 grant from Rural Reimagined, the Barbourville charger is part of a growing effort to build out Kentucky’s EV infrastructure to draw in more tourists and bring travelers into our unique towns. The Mountain Association’s Energy Team supported by running an analysis of how much the town would need to charge users to support the additional electric use. We also connected the city with Johnathan Gambrell, a Corbin-based contractor, who completed the installation. 

Beyond bringing in new people, the chargers also create opportunities for local residents. “We want to give local people an option to consider an EV if it works for their family,” Mayor Thompson said. 

If your town or facility in one of the 54 Appalachian Kentucky counties is interested in exploring EV chargers or energy savings, contact Hope Broecker at hope@mtassociation.org or apply here.

The post Charging Ahead: Barbourville Celebrates 225 Years with New Energy appeared first on Mountain Association.

“So far in Kentucky we don’t have a significant amount of demand on the grid from data centers,” explained Byron Gary, Program Attorney at Kentucky Resources Council. “We have a few smaller operations, but nothing on the ‘hyperscale’ size seen in other places yet. If the growth projected by Louisville Gas & Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities (KU) does come about, though, we could see as much as a 20–30% increase in demand over the next 7–8 years. And this could have a real impact on costs for ratepayers.” 

That kind of increase would require the utilities to make significant new investments in Kentucky’s energy infrastructure. How those costs are distributed will matter to everyone who uses electricity. 

Utilities like LG&E and KU already received permission from state regulators to build two new gas power plants and make upgrades to existing coal units in anticipation of higher demand. They have said that data centers would pay their fair share, but Gary notes that cost allocation is not always clearly defined. 

“The companies claim that the rates paid by data centers will fully cover the costs of all the needed infrastructure, but we have our doubts,” Gary said. “If the data centers don’t materialize, existing ratepayers could end up footing the bill. Even if they do, cost allocation in a utility setting is incredibly complex — and there’s significant room for debate over who’s really driving what costs. The immediate harm to residential customers, especially those already struggling with the costs of things like housing and groceries, could be very real and if electricity costs rise, Kentucky could lose the competitive edge that attracts real, job-creating industries.” 

Higher energy costs don’t only affect households — they ripple through local economies, schools, and community institutions that depend on affordable electricity. In much of Kentucky, residents have limited opportunities to provide input on major industrial developments. Only about one-third of counties have planning and zoning ordinances, meaning that in many areas, projects like data centers can move forward with minimal public notice. 

“It doesn’t help that many local officials negotiating with the developer have signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from openly speaking with the community about the potential project as they should,” Gary said. 

Beyond concerns about energy costs, data centers can be noisy and do not sustain many local jobs beyond construction. As data centers consider locating in Kentucky, it’s important that communities, regulators, and utilities work together to ensure that new development strengthens, rather than strains, the state’s energy system. Transparent decision-making, fair cost allocation, and thoughtful planning can help make sure that Kentucky remains an affordable and reliable place to live, work, and do business.

The Mountain Association and our partners regularly intervene in utility company proposals presented to the Kentucky Public Service Commission, our state regulators, in order to advocate for energy affordability in Eastern Kentucky.

To stay up to date with this work, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

The post Energy Costs & Data Center Development in Kentucky appeared first on Mountain Association.

At the core of Renew Appalachia are Lauren Traitz, Director of Community, and Richard Shmikler, Director of Operations, who live in an off-grid cabin they built on the land in Martin County. Together with landowner and Renew Appalachia founder Clifford Smith, a long-time advocate of restoring abandoned mine lands who purchased the property in 2018, and a team of nonprofits and universities, they have already launched a number of demonstrations on the property – with many more in the works. 

“With any project we pursue, we always ask ourselves: ‘Will it help to improve the land? Will it create opportunities for this community?’ We aim to have everything we do serve both these mountains and the folks that live amongst them,” Lauren said.

One of their major accomplishments so far is planting 550,000 trees across 600 of the acres, making them well on their way to reaching their goal of one million trees on 1,000 acres. They raise some of these trees in an on-site nursery supported by Terraformation, and have planted in partnership with Green Forests Work – a nonprofit that over the past 20+ years developed the Forestry Reclamation Approach for mine lands across Appalachia. Because coal companies are required to return mine land close to its original contour, this leads to heavily compacted soil that few things can take root in. The unique approach involves loosening the soil before native trees and shrubs are planted. This method mitigates flooding and erosion long-term as the soil is then able to absorb more water, and the deep root systems of native species prevent land from slipping during heavy rains. 

On other parts of the land, they mow or do controlled burns in partnership with the Division of Forestry. Lauren and Richard rotate a herd of sheep, in partnership with the Southeastern Kentucky Sheep Producers Association and Kentucky State University, to graze on invasive species like sericea lespedeza and autumn olive. These particular invasives were once planted for erosion control by the coal companies, though it is now known that they outcompete native species, impacting wildlife and soil health. 

Community involvement is central to Renew Appalachia’s mission. They regularly hold workshops, like mushroom log inoculation and forest farming, and this summer, they will host their first restoration camp for high school students. A new high tunnel and container garden will also be installed in the coming months, allowing them to expand their workshop offerings. 

“We call it ‘renew’ because there are so many amazing traditions and skills that folks here have practiced for generations,” Richard described. “Our project aims to invite more young people to continue these traditions, and I’m just overwhelmed by the amazing Appalachian elders and mentors who have joined us in these efforts.” 

Last fall, they hosted their first annual Barefoot Festival featuring a variety of Appalachian artists and performers. The stage was built in part by carpentry students from Martin County High School, using wood salvaged from the former Jude’s Grocery Store in the neighboring community of Pigeon Roost. While we were there visiting, a herd of wild horses was grazing behind the stage, a common backdrop for this land.  

Mountain Association’s energy experts are currently working with Renew Appalachia to explore their solar power and battery options.  

We are looking forward to seeing how this multi-faceted project continues to serve Eastern Kentucky’s communities and land for years to come! 

The post Rewilding 7,000 Acres of Eastern Kentucky’s Mined Land appeared first on Mountain Association.

As a 24-year-old, conservationist Aldo Leopold was forever changed by a dying wolf he and his crew had shot. After seeing the wolf’s eyes, he became an outspoken advocate for preserving natural spaces. He encouraged people to “think like a mountain,” and recognize how we need predators, like wolves, to keep the population of other species, like deer, in check in order to have a balanced ecosystem.

This philosophy is one shared by Refuge Ridge in Whitley County, Kentucky, home to wolf dogs rescued from all over the country. Each of the 22 wolf dogs (and one coyote dog, or coydog) are in spacious enclosures with shade trees and are regularly provided with a variety of enrichment activities.

Founder Marti Wilson bought the approximately 250 acres that make up the refuge 25 years ago. A retired special education teacher, she has always been passionate about connecting children to nature in hands-on ways.

“Wolves are a wonderful lesson for kids in cooperation and in play,” Marti explained. “Wolf packs are only as strong as their weakest member, so they really care for each other and everyone helps raise the young.”

With their goal to help educate youth, they built a beautiful Educational Center at the Ridge, where inside you are surrounded by windows to view the mountains around you. Because wolf dogs are escape artists (they can climb an 8 foot fence in a heartbeat), each enclosure has over hangs and dig guards.

“When a wolf dog comes here, they are here forever. This is their home,” Marti said. Marti said they get 5 to 10 calls a week from people looking for homes for wolf dogs.

“We wish we could take them all, but we’re not willing to make the enclosures any smaller. Wolves are very shy. There has never been an attack on humans by a healthy wolf. While the ‘big bad wolf’ image is false, wolf dogs still don’t make good pets.”

Because of their strong need for exercise, when wolf dogs grow up, most owners soon realize they are in over their heads. Shelters cannot adopt out any dog that has wolf in it, so they must either go to a sanctuary or be euthanized. Each dog at the Ridge is spayed or neutered, and they are strong advocates for adoption. In the past, they’ve also sought out grants to help support spay/neuter clinics for area animals.

As we walked down to their enclosure, Marti told us the incredible story of the Sherman pack, a pack of 5 wolves, that they drove to Oklahoma in the middle of the night – in the middle of a tornado – to rescue. She said they were so starved they didn’t think the pack would make it. Because they were hand raised, they are the most socialized of the wolf dogs.

When you get up close to them, you can really appreciate both the wildness in their eyes like Aldo Leopold recognized. That’s when it clicks for you as a visitor how important the mission of the Refuge is and the larger awareness efforts to stop the breeding of these majestic animals and perseveration of their habitats.

All the costs of the Refuge are supported by donations of which they must raise $2,000 a month to sustain the operation. They feed all the wolf dogs kibble, adding in raw meat 2-3 times a week. They often have unique fundraisers that also help educate, like a kids book called Topanga and the Dreamweaver, about the wolf dog that started the rescue. They also have t-shirts, totes and apparel available for purchase. In the future, they hope to open cabins on the property so visitors can experience the regal howls that take place each night at the Refuge.

Please learn more about them via their website or follow along on social media.

The post Thinking Like A Mountain: Refuge Ridge Wolf Sanctuary appeared first on Mountain Association.

In Spring 2019, the first-ever TEDx event in Eastern Kentucky was held in Corbin. There were over 20 speakers at the event, including a chaplain, farmers, educators, musicians (and even a musician physician), and more. All focused on Appalachia with an emphasis on Appalachian Kentucky.

After several months of preparing the footage captured during the event, as of late August, the videos are available for streaming. Mae Suramek, the founder and owner of Noodle Nirvana, in Berea, KY, a former MACED board member, delivered one of those inspiring talks, titled “Noodles can change the world.”

Noodle Nirvana is a socially-conscious restaurant with an innovative business model where in all tips and a portion of profits are donated to a different local nonprofit every year. The business is also committed to providing living wages, supporting local food providers, and significantly impacting the most pressing needs of the community. From 2016-2017, its first year of business, Noodle Nirvana sold more than 37,000 noodle bowls, grew from three employees to 14 (all starting at $10/hour), and raised more than $30,000 for the New Opportunity School for Women. From 2017-2018, they raised $44,190 for God’s Outreach Madison County Food Bank. From 2018-2019, they raised $41,000 for Hope’s Wings Domestic Violence Program. This year, they are raising money for Hospice Care Plus.

Suramek’s talk is shared below. Others like Eastern Kentucky farmer Melissa Bond’s “What being a goat farmer taught me about shame” and student Xiao-Yin Chen’s “Discovering—and rediscovering—my identity” can be found here.

Thank you to all the speakers for sharing their stories, and to the organizers for helping showcase Appalachian voices. Another story-telling event is coming up when The Moth will be in Whitesburg on Friday, September 13, 2019.

The post TEDx Corbin appeared first on Mountain Association.

AIR Shift facilitators are prepared so they can go out and conduct three-day “Shift” workshops designed for artists and creatives, unique small businesses and cultural heritage nonprofits, and governmental and social service staff. Facilitators guide workshop participants through the design thinking process and a business canvas to create a small project to address an issue in their community using arts or creativity. Projects must be locally implementable within a year and have a $10,000 or less budget.

A few of the new Eastern Kentucky based facilitators trained to “shift your world” are highlighted below:

Jake East, Perry County

Jake East is an arts administrator and euphonium performing artist based in his hometown of Hazard, KY. He studied Music (Euphonium) and a Minor in Arts Entrepreneurship at Morehead State University. As a euphoniumist, he has performed internationally with the Morehead State University Symphony Band and the Kentucky Ambassadors of Music on tours of England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and China where he was Principal Euphonium of the MSU Symphony Band and Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble. He then served as an AmeriCorps VISTA at Redbud Financial Alternatives, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with a mission of providing financial education and equitable consumer lending. He is currently the Executive Director of Appalachian Arts Alliance, an organization with a mission of building access points for high quality arts education, arts entrepreneurial tools, and community centered programming in Eastern Kentucky.

Max Hammond, Carter County

Max Hammond is a life-long horseman, he loves and lives on a six generation, Eastern Kentucky, hillside farm and cares for 24 head of Paso Fino horses and 2 mules. Max developed the concept of “The Appalachian Horse Revival” which was presented to and adopted by Morehead State University. He is currently working as a community partner with Eastern Kentucky University on the Appalachian Horse Project. As President of the Olive Hill Council for Planning and Restoration, he founded, helped produce and hosted the first “Trail Town Stage,” a live show, soon to be radio broadcast, that celebrates the range, depth and influence of mountain music and promotes the rich songwriting and storytelling heritage of our region. He also successfully promoted his hometown as a location for the filming of a motion picture. Max is currently spearheading the effort to establish a trail system centered in Eastern Kentucky that will honor the first Appalachians, the Native Americans.

Laura Poulette, Madison County

Laura Poulette paints contemporary botanical watercolors inspired by the native plants of Kentucky’s woods and meadows. Laura graduated from Berea College where she studied studio art. She has adjudicated into the Kentucky Crafted Program of the Kentucky Arts Council. Laura exhibits her art work throughout Kentucky, and her line of original art, greeting cards and prints is carried by 16 galleries and boutiques in the Southeast. She lives with her family in the hills outside of Berea, Kentucky.

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Greta Slone, Floyd County

A native daughter of Appalachia, of coal miners and immigrant theologians, Greta Heintzelman Slone is rooted in eastern Kentucky—by birth and by choice. She has had careers firmly planted in the humanities, most notably at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Jewish Historical Society, and as an archivist for Broadway theatre productions. Greta is now the Director of Strategic Communications for Big Sandy Community and Technical College. She also owns Free State of Appalachia, an ecommerce business, whose focus is on empowering Appalachian artists through the reproduction of their original artwork on the most common canvas—the tee shirt. 

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Mindy Woods-Click, Carter County

Mindy and her husband, Dan (also a newly trained facilitator!), operate the non-profit Grayson Gallery & Art Center, Inc., to provide a venue for the arts and a creative place for the community to flourish. She graduated with a degree in plant and animal sciences from the University of Kentucky and worked for the Department of Agriculture. She has been a volunteer in her community for the last 25 years, serving on the founding board of the Carter County Public Library; one of the last two counties in the state without a public library system, and went on to serve on the State Board of Library Trustees. Mindy also serves on the Carter County Community Fund Board, Grayson Tourism Commission, Grayson Planning & Zoning Commission, and Park Board.

After they trained together in the spring, in June 2019, a few of the facilitators came together in a unique partnership with Cowan Creek Community Center to work with a group of high school students in Letcher County on designing community projects. In the first day of their internship, participants gathered at the Community Center for orientation and the three-day Shift workshop where they came up with ideas to potentially implement within the community that summer.

Facilitators led small groups of the students through exercises, and challenged them to collaborate and think differently about art, business and the economy. Over the three-days, they worked on business plans (including marketing, scheduling, budgeting, etc.), did a run through presentation of their ideas, and presented their ideas to a panel of judges comprised of local community leaders.

The groups came up with three final ideas:

• Build a giant scrabble board on the lawn at the town’s outdoor music stage, where the summer Levitt Amp series takes place
• Host a cooking competition in Whitesburg
• Organize a parade of decorated off-road vehicles

Over the course of the summer, the students have worked on implementing their ideas and plans developed through the Shift training. Read more here.

“The AIR Shift Facilitator training was three incredible days of working on communication skills, collaboration, and learning how to help creative minded and business minded folks to bring their abilities together, for the benefit of all,” Mindy Woods-Click said of the program.

“We put this into practice with high school and college students in Whitesburg and they came up with amazing projects to boost attendance at a local farmers market and concert series. We were also able to facilitate part of the AIR Shift program with the Carter County Youth Leadership Academy, and the high school juniors came to consensus on a community-wide clean-up program. An Air Shift Workshop is in the future plans for our community!”

This year, AIR has also trained more than 50 facilitators in South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. Each is actively planning and implementing Shift Workshops and helping guide community members in implementing their own small scale projects to boost local business development. Please contact Beth Flowers (beth_flowers@berea.edu) at Berea College with questions about the AIR Institute.

The post Three Days that will Shift Your World appeared first on Mountain Association.

“Thursdays on the Triangle” in Hazard, Kentucky, kicked off its fifth year last week. This mini-festival hosted on Main Street in Hazard every other Thursday during the summer months revolves around the town’s farmers market and brings food, music and the arts to downtown.

Local musicians perform and artists demonstrate and sell their craft. Farmers sell produce at the market, and food and beer vendors are on site. There is no cost associated with setting up a booth for Thursdays on the Triangle to prevent it from being barrier to participation for some.

By providing a barrier-free marketplace to local food and farm vendors, Thursdays on the Triangle provides a unique mechanism for local food producers to sell their products to the community. And, since the event is free and open to the public and located in the heart of downtown Hazard, the local community is an intrinsic part of Thursdays on the Triangle.

The event encourages local tourism for visitors interested in experiencing the music, art and food of the mountains. The festival is coordinated by the Appalachian Arts Alliance.

Vibrant communities where people want to live and work is an important part of a just transition to a new economy. Many times, this type of community building is referred to as “creative place-making,” a term to describe how partners from public, private, non-profit and community sectors come together strategically to shape the physical and social character of a community to create welcoming spaces.

Building communities where people want to live, work and play – and where young people want to stay or return to – is an important part of Appalachia’s New Day.

About: Appalachia’s New Day is a new storytelling effort offered by MACED to eastern Kentucky communities. We can work with you to help identify, shape and amplify stories about businesses, programs and initiatives in your community that are helping build a new economy in eastern Kentucky. Contact us or sign up here if you would like more details.

The post Appalachia’s New Day: Community in Eastern Kentucky appeared first on Mountain Association.

A group of longtime friends and some of Kentucky’s top conservationists formed the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust (KNLT) in 1995 to raise funds for protection of the area. The project was coordinated in partnership with the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (now the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves).

Today, the Pine Mountain area is frequented by travelers from across the nation who want to see the largest old-growth forest remaining in the state. KNLT partners with many organizations to lead hikes and educational events in the area.

The Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail is a linear state park being developed along the length of the mountain in southeastern Kentucky. The trail will span approximately 110 miles from Breaks Interstate Park to Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. This long-distance backcountry trail will be a link up to the Great Eastern Trail, a 1,800-mile trail stretching from Alabama to New York. The majority of the trail is within the Pine Mountain Wildlands Corridor, the largest landscape-level project ever undertaken in the state. 

Our stunning forested mountains and rich cultural traditions are important assets with tourism potential. Tourism is a fast growing industry in Kentucky, but one that must be very thoughtful in development because it’s a sector well-known for low wages and seasonal jobs, environmental and quality of life impacts, and the commodification of local culture. When local tourism entrepreneurs are given the tools and support they need to develop their own businesses, and if local communities are involved in planning and development decisions, tourism can be a strong building block to a diversified economy.

Though the economic impact of eco-tourism in the Pine Mountain area has not yet been fully assessed, the 2017 Outdoor Industry Association report illustrates the economic impact of outdoor recreation in Kentucky. The industry provides 120,000 direct jobs and $756 million in state and local tax revenue. Additional research by Eastern Kentucky University used the Red River Gorge as a case study for outdoor economies and showed that rock-climber spending supports the presence of 168 jobs in the region and contributes $6.3 million in wages.

County tourism staff, like those in Harlan and Letcher Counties, are promoting hikes and outdoor adventures on Pine Mountain, inviting visitors to enjoy the wonders of the mountain and to spend time and money with local businesses.

The mountains are calling, ringing out Appalachia’s New Day.

About: Appalachia’s New Day is a new storytelling effort offered by MACED to eastern Kentucky communities. We can work with you to help identify, shape and amplify stories about businesses, programs and initiatives in your community that are helping build a new economy in eastern Kentucky. Contact us or sign up here if you would like more details.

The post Appalachia’s New Day: Tourism in Eastern Kentucky appeared first on Mountain Association.

We’re kicking things off with a story about the arts and creative placemaking in Harlan County. Arts and creative cultural placemaking have a long history in the region, and in order to move our economy forward, we’ll need to invest in the things we already have and make sure people working in those areas have the support they need to be successful.

This story demonstrates the potential arts and culture have in building a new economy in eastern Kentucky.

The Great Mountain Mural & Community Design Mega Fest is happening this year from June 20-23 in downtown Harlan. In its second year, the Fest is a gathering of artists, teachers, students and all others interested in learning how to:

• Create enduring outdoor, large-scale murals.
• Work with property owners and local governments to make public art happen.
• Engage schools, youth and other community members in the design and creation of public murals.
• Integrate the creation of murals into larger plans for community development.

Event organizer Robert Gipe is an eastern Kentucky illustrator and author, and says, the event is “for painters of all kinds, visual thinkers of all kinds, wall lovers, downtown lovers, art teachers, students, people with extra paint. Everybody.”

The festival is a project of Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (where Gipe teaches), and is just one example of how communities in eastern Kentucky are using the arts to revitalize downtowns, celebrate community, and encourage new business opportunities.

The growth of projects like this are helping build a strong creative economy in eastern Kentucky. The region has long been known as an originator of great art, music and more, and by embracing this piece of the culture, and strengthening it as an important sector of the economy, it can become one of the paths forward into Appalachia’s New Day.

About: Appalachia’s New Day is a new storytelling effort offered by MACED to eastern Kentucky communities. We can work with you to help identify, shape and amplify stories about businesses, programs and initiatives in your community that are helping build a new economy in eastern Kentucky. Contact us or sign up here if you would like more details.

The post Appalachia’s New Day: The Arts in Eastern Kentucky appeared first on Mountain Association.

Dr. Bob Coleman of Carter County comes from generations of family with a passion for smooth-gaited traveling horses. He has spearheaded development of the Smokey Valley breed over the past 40 years at his farm in Olive Hill. The horses will be celebrated at an Appalachian Horse Revival event with Morehead State University on Memorial Day Weekend 2019.

This revival of the Appalachian horse industry is best described in this excerpt written by Jeremy D. Wells of Grayson Journal-Enquirer who recently toured Smokey Valley Farm:

“They will go through the woods like a deer, and will go through the rocks like a goat,” [Max Hammond of Smokey Valley Farm] said.

He described the Smokey Valley Horse as calm, with a smooth gait on all terrains, and a “people horse.” That description was emphasized by Lil’ Red, one of the groups breeding stallions, as he sought out pets and nuzzled those who came near him while touring the barn. “We don’t breed for color,” Hammond said while describing Lil’ Reds strawberry roan coloring. “We breed for temperament, body and gait. But we have a lot of what you call the roan coloring.”

He described how the horses of Appalachia were so sought after that charges of horse thieving lead to feuds, like the Underwood War. This event, he said, lead directly to the establishment of a normal school, which would eventually become Morehead State University, in an attempt to “normalize” the people of Appalachia who were engaged in such feuds.

He said that with that kind of history, it’s appropriate that the farm is working with Morehead State to reintroduce the horse, and that a Morehead student, Brandi Meek, is the first certified registered horse trainer apprentice in the state of Kentucky, despite the state’s long history of and relation to horses.

This year, they are working with Morehead to put on a horse show of “epic proportions,” all focused on Appalachian horse breeds.

“We’re hoping to engage and leverage the entire university to bring back the horse industry to eastern Kentucky,” he said.

The farm is also petitioning Breyer, the toy company who makes model horses of different breeds, to select Lil’ Red as their archetype for the Smokey Valley Horse breed.

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To learn more about the upcoming event on May 23, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/equestriantraveler/

The post Appalachian Horse Industry Revival appeared first on Mountain Association.