June 1 is the application deadline for young people aged 12 to 14 that wish to participate in the Harness Horse Youth Foundation's Midwest Summer Programs

, a series of one and two-day events designed to give youth hands-on experience working with the HHYF's stable of trottingbred horses.

Each event will allow children the chance to explore many aspects of harness horse preparation, from stall cleaning, grooming and harnessing to actually jogging the horses.

The programs scheduled are:

June 13
Maywood Park
Maywood, Illinois (with mentor Big Brothers/Big Sisters program)

June 15
Elkhorn, Wisconsin

June 19-20
Running Aces
Columbus, Minnesota

June 22
Cannon Falls, Minnesota

June 24
Grinnell, Iowa
(Age 12-16)

Applications and complete details are available at hhyf.org. The deadline for applications to be received by HHYF is June 1.

"The response so far has been very strong. We are especially happy with the support we have received from the horseman's associations in these mid-western states, but we still have a few openings left," said HHYF Executive Director Ellen Taylor.

(HHYF)