Joe Muscara Jr. believes in giving back to the grass roots of the horse industry.
For a second year, Muscara has donated a Mr. Big breeding to help raise funds for Equine Guelph’s education programs. Those are the same programs that have helped him evaluate what works and what does not, on his successful journey into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Muscara said of his recent experience seeing Equine Guelph’s introductory pathway to equine education, “I was fortunate to have spent a couple of hours at EquiMania at the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. I saw hundreds of kids come through and watched their eyes get bigger.”
He added, “They love horses and learning about horses. Equine Guelph does a wonderful job giving children a chance to enjoy horses and all that they can do and I am glad that we could help out in some way.”
Cliff and Kathy Coonfer in Olds, Alberta won the breeding to Mr. Big with a winning bid of $5,700 in the stallion auction run by The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society.
The OSAS raises money to assist in the placement of retired Standardbreds in the province, and it included that donated breeding in its auction.
In return Equine Guelph has provided an online course to be auctioned off at a coming OSAS golf tournament, continuing the sow the seeds of lifelong learning.
To donate to Equine Guelph’s education program or for more information on online courses, go to www.http://www.equineguelph.ca/News/index.php?content=284.
This year, there were a total of 17 breedings donated by breeding farms, plus one breeding that was donated to Equine Guelph.
The auction was on industry websites – Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society, The Harness Edge & Standardbred Canada.
The auction was available on line from Feb. 23 to 27.
The OSAS holds the online auction yearly and it is the second largest fundraiser for the society
OSAS is a registered charitable organization founded in 1996. To date it has placed more than 600 horses. For more information on the program or to donate visit www.osas.ca.
