Anne Sabatino Hardy

Edited Press Release Hallie Hardy has been named executive director of Horse Country, Inc., replacing Anne Sabatino Hardy (unrelated), who has led the nonprofit since its founding in 2015. "Horse Country is proud to announce Hallie as its new executive director," explained Gathan Borden, president of the Horse Country board of directors. "She brings not only a necessary skill set and diverse experience, but also sincere enthusiasm for the organization's mission and the desire to continue the growth of this critical fan development initiative. We are grateful to Anne and...

Anne Sabatino Hardy, Visit Horse Country's first Executive Director, will be leaving that organization to transition to new opportunities in early 2022. Hardy will remain through the transition as the board of Horse Country searches for a new Executive Director. "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. "[Hardy] has been a tremendous asset in helping develop and grow Horse Country to where it is today. As we embark on...

Gathan Borden, the vice president of marketing for VisitLEX, Lexington's convention and visitor's bureau, has officially been named the new board president of Visit Horse Country. Borden succeeds founding board president Price H. Bell, Jr., who served in the position for the first seven years of the organization. "Visit Horse Country has been a game-changer for the Lexington tourism product," said Borden. "The outreach from the horse industry into the community has been powerful and has allowed us to truly share the Bluegrass in a way we never could before....

New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program has become the 40th organization to join Visit Horse Country, formed in 2014 to promote Kentucky's rich Horse Country heritage. New Vocations will begin offering tours of its Mereworth Farm facility in April. Tour dates and times can be found here. "The program at New Vocations has long done great work with retraining and adoption; we're excited to partner with them in sharing that work with guests-seeing an off-track Thoroughbred being trained for a second career is inspiring," said Anne Sabatino Hardy, executive director of...

Anne Sabatino Hardy is Executive Director of Visit Horse Country I didn't grow up around horses, but I did grow up with a gambler. My dad liked Craps and Blackjack mostly, and played well. According to family legend, during a high school spring break trip to Las Vegas, one successful late-night Craps game was punctuated by "Annie needs a new prom dress!" I can't verify the story (my parents had standards, after all--I was relegated to the room), but indeed my first prom dress was secured during a visit to...