Hardy Steps Down as Horse Country Executive Director

Anne Sabatino Hardy, Visit Horse Country's first executive director, will be transitioning to new opportunities in early 2022. The board of Horse Country has begun the process of identifying a new executive director, and Hardy will remain on board through the transition.

"The equine industry is vital to the tourism infrastructure of Lexington and Central Kentucky tourism," said Gathan Borden, vice president of VisitLEX and Visit Horse Country board chair. "Anne has been a tremendous asset in helping develop and grow Horse Country to where it is today. As we embark on this next chapter, the board looks forward to building upon her leadership and success to take Horse Country into the future."

In 2014, a group of industry participants gathered around the idea of a collaborative industry initiative that would reach out to fans and invite them to experiences at equine locations as a support of fan development. Horse Country had been born out of inspiration from the united success of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and with an eye on a report commissioned by The Jockey Club and completed by McKinsey and Company detailing the state of the industry and racing fandom.

Since then, members have hosted more than 180,000 guests and fans, while developing entirely new products and offerings including elevated experiences and merchandise. The outreach has garnered new fans and owners and documented positive perception change for the sport achieved through experiential access, as well as garnered national and international recognition in press and awards.

In April, the American Farmland Trust and Visit Horse Country announced a strategic partnership aligning AFT's mission of farmland protection with the agritourism experiences offered through Horse Country and its members. Agritourism is a powerful tool for advocacy and awareness, and a growing segment of tourism overall, with 62 million people visiting farms, ranches, and wineries annually, according to the National Tour Association. Awareness of land preservation and sustainability has trended upward as a concern for Americans in recent years.

"Building Horse Country with the members, board, sponsors and supporters over these last seven years has been a beautiful challenge and I treasure the relationships I've built through this work as well as the accomplishments we've shared together," said Hardy. "I look forward to seeing the next vision of Horse Country. I was drawn to this work as someone outside of the industry who was inspired by the members' unified vision of providing engaging access to the horse, land and people and I still firmly believe in how this outreach prioritizes the guest and fan above all as a way to help them fall in love with the horse, the sport and Kentucky."