Photos provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame has announced Season two of Foal Patrol this fall.
Since Foal Patrol’s debut, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Foal Patrol project has received more than one million views across its various media platforms and was viewed in 37 countries. Season two will debut this fall at www.foalpatrol. com. Announcements regarding the participating farms and mares will be made later this summer.
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame launched Foal Patrol as a one-of-a-kind collection of live web cameras where people can view real-time streams of several in-foal mares during their pregnancy and through the actual foaling. The website is optimized for viewing across all media platforms, including tablets and smart phones. In addition, the Museum partnered with artist Sharon Crute to develop a Foal Patrol coloring book, which is available in the Museum gift shop.
Foal Patrol currently live streams from eight different farms across the country. Five farms are in Kentucky; two are in New York- one of them being the Old Tavern Farm in Saratoga Springs, and one other in Florida.
The Museum’s partners in developing Foal Patrol include The Jockey Club Technology Services, Keeneland Broadcast Associates, Godolphin Kids, Visit Lex, Horse Country Tours, Equineline.com, The BloodHorse, Equibase, New World Resources and Carr-Hughes Productions.
“The great feedback we have received from Foal Patrol fans and the racing industry has been exceptional,” said Cathy Marino, the director of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
“To have a million views in six months is such a thrill for everyone at the Museum. People have really fallen in love with these mares and foals and this project has been a great educational tool to help people learn about breeding and raising thoroughbreds. We’re really looking forward to continuing Foal Patrol and making it even better with our second season,” she added.
According to Marino, Foal Patrol hopes to expand on the educational aspects of the website.
“We’ll be shortly adding on a lot of educational aspects. We want to talk about anatomy, pedigree, care of the horses, veterinarian care... We are hoping to eventually have this so that teachers can go on here and link to different educational aspects that they can use in the classroom and perhaps develop a curriculum around it,” Marino said.
Looking ahead, Marino hopes to involve other industry-related organizations for the next year.
