The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) announced the results of its December 7 stallion season auction. The grand total for the fundraising effort when all seasons are totaled is estimated to be approximately $4,000,000.

The live and silent auctions combined totaled approximately $3.9 million. When KEEP finalizes all of the private seasons, the total will top $4 million.

“What a tremendous success for KEEP and the horse industry. I want to thank all of the stallion managers, farm managers and shareholders for their generous donations,” said Patrick Neely, Executive Director of KEEP. “This was by far the biggest stallion season auction ever held both in terms of stallion seasons (184) and money raised. These funds will go a long way to help our organization continue its mission. Most people forget, but we are still a young organization having only been around since 2004. We have a lot of work left ahead of us to raise awareness about the importance of the horse industry to our state and the economic role our industry plays in the local economies all across the Commonwealth.”

KEEP will spend the next few weeks working on its legislative agenda for 2008. The organization anticipates it will be very involved in the debate on expanded gaming but also will be working on other pieces of legislation for the industry, such as the removal of the sales tax on feed and other supplies.

For more information on KEEP and to place bids on the unsold seasons, visit their website at www.horseswork.com or call (859) 259-0007.