For the past seven weeks, Stoney the retired Standardbred, was the “star” of the Planet Kids Program every Wednesday morning during July and August, at Country Heritage Park in Milton
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Each Wednesday, 30 - 50 kids ages 5 through 8, who are part of this Day Camp program, listened to a 45 minute interactive presentation on a day in the life of a Standardbred. The presentation is one of Standardbred Canada’s Youth Initiatives.
This was the sixth consecutive summer SC has partnered with Country Heritage to educate kids about Standardbreds and over the course of that time, over 1500 children have been introduced to Stoney, (aka Shore Stone) who has been a great ambassador for harness racing, since retiring from racing in 2003.
The campers all have the chance to pet Stoney, who is now 15, and feed him a carrot following the presentation and also receive an issue of TROT 4 Kids and a T4K activity book.
The presentation features information about Standardbreds, and what makes them so special. The kids learn what horses need and about the day in a life of a racehorse, including how fast Standardbreds can go, how far they train each day, the difference between a trotter and pacer and more. The presentation is very interactive and engages the children with the help of visuals and props, and of course, the horse.