The 2010 Kentucky International Equine Summit, a biennial event on Monday and Tuesday, April 26 and 27, in Lexington, Ky., will feature 74 speakers and panelists dealing with a broad range of challenges facing all segments of the horse industry. The meeting is sponsored by the University of Louisville College of Business and the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.

"The aim of the Summit is to bring experts from industry and academia together to discuss the most critical non-political issues facing the horse industry in hopes that leaders of the industry–the officers, directors and committee members of national and state horse organizations–can use the dialogue to meet those challenges," said Rich Wilcke, Summit chair, and the director of the University of Louisville’s Equine Industry Program.

The Summit, which will be held at the Downtown Hilton, is organized as a six-day conference that takes place over only two days by having three sessions occurring simultaneously, with attendees free to move as they choose among the tracks. The tracks for 2010 are as follow:

• New Ideas in Equine Media and Technology;
• Equine Industrial Structures and Strategies;
• Increasing Globalization of Equine Activities;
• Equine Association Leadership/Management;
• Postsecondary Equine Education Programs, and
• Equine Regulatory and Jurisdictional Issues.

Only the luncheons on both days are plenary sessions. John Long, chairman of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and CEO of the United States Equestrian Federation, will be the luncheon speaker on Monday, April 26. Nick Nicholson, president of the Keeneland Association, will speak at the Tuesday luncheon