LEXINGTON, Ky. — Every year about this time, people begin to utter Kentucky Derby language; the talk about prep races at tracks in Florida, California and New York and Derby festival events have actually started already.

But horse talk is always prevalent in Kentucky, and is beginning to come from some unusual places. With the announcement of a new equine studies program at one of the state’s most noted college prep high schools, a younger generation is beginning to learn about Kentucky’s signature industry.

Lexington Catholic High School (LCHS), known for its academic and athletic excellence, is about to embark on a four-year program that, if initial interest is any indication, is already on track to live up to school standards.

The idea for the Equine Academy came after conversations with those primarily in the Thoroughbred industry about the need for a new generation to get into the business, according to Dr. Steve Angelucci, president of LCHS.

“It became apparent to me that maybe there’s a place for a high school to be one of the beginning steps for kids to be exposed to the opportunities and needs that are out there in the equine world, and not just Thoroughbreds,” he said.

“I reached out to several people in the LC community who are affiliated with the equine industry and at each step of the way, it became very apparent to me that there was strong support for trying to help us do something like this in terms of a program to introduce kids to the equine industry.”

Angelucci realized there was something special the school could do, particularly because of abundant resources available in central Kentucky that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. The four-year program will officially get under way next fall with an on-campus academic component as well as an off-campus component, and will be open to 24 incoming freshmen initially.

If interest is high enough and that number is exceeded, another group will be added. Angelucci expects that to be the case and said there could be as many as 48 freshmen in the inaugural class.

The program will combine a four-year curriculum with a schedule of laboratory settings, events, seminars, speakers and volunteer opportunities that will encompass as many aspects of the equine industry that can reasonably fit into the program, said Angelucci.

The interest from the community has been overwhelming at this point and he said many local horse farms have stepped up to offer their help. In fact, the program has been so well received that one of the “nice challenges” will be how to benefit from those offers without hurting any feelings because there to be too many to take advantage of all of them.

“We envision trying to do some things at the Kentucky Horse Park and we have arrangements with Georgetown College and their equine program, the University of Kentucky’s Equine Initiative and Midway College’s equine program, and will be doing various things with those programs to kind of piggyback on some of their elements, both academic and extracurricular,” said Angelucci.

He added those three colleges and universities have strongly embraced this program and LCHS has assigned arrangements will all of them. The program will obviously be attractive to students with some type of equine background, but it won’t be limited to only them.

“While this is designed primarily for a student who might already come to us with some background, we will provide opportunities for kids who would never have a chance to look at, touch or learn about a horse,” Angelucci said. “We are going to open it up to all students, but I feel pretty strongly it’s going to appeal primarily to kids who already have some familiarity with it.”

While it is too soon to say the difficult days are over for the horse industry, there are some indicators that would point to a leveling off and turnaround for the state’s most visible commodity. David Switzer, executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Assoc., said the industry is indeed on a comeback.

“The economy is improving. We had very good sales in 2011. The yearling market and breeding market were both very good. I believe the industry is consolidating a bit. We now have more demand than supply, so I see a lot of positive signs in the industry,” he said.

The educational endeavors going on right now are an example of those positive signs. Switzer said educating young people about career opportunities in the industry will produce a better workforce.

“There are so many different careers that people are not aware of in our industry,” he said. “We need journalists, we need accountants, we need lawyers and computer technicians.”

Switzer added that educational programs are going to introduce young people to possible careers at an earlier age than waiting until they go to college.

“Not only will it benefit these young people for career opportunities, it will help our industry because young people will have some type of knowledge about our industry,” he said.