I held a program in response to a request from my county Saddle Club. But offered it to cover the topic as related to horses and other farm animals, specifically cattle. It was a hay program that covered how to identify hay, either standing in the field or more specifically in the bale; importance of knowing the quality of your hay, either raised personally or bought; what good quality hay is; what types and quality of hay are acceptable for specific species, and stages of live and uses of those species; and how to read a hay test results paper.

This program was extremely positive with the attendees. The format was different than most inside programs held. One of the presenters, Dr. Bob Coleman, UK Extension Equine Specialist, described it as a mini-indoor field day. This format garnered a lot of audience participation that would not normally of happened in a traditional PowerPoint, classroom type program. It was just very audience participation friendly. I had attendees actively participate who have attended other programs and normally would not have said a word.

That evening, many of the audience relayed how informative the program had been and how much they had learned, in general and about their situation specifically. The next morning, I started getting calls asking when this would be offered again, since many who would have liked to have been there but were previously committed to various holiday related commitments, had heard about it and want to attend the next time.

So, with that in mind, I am working to get the presenters, Dr. Bob mentioned previously, and Dr, Jimmy Henning, back up to do a repeat during the annual East KY Horse Expo in April.