The Working Student Problem: Why Unpaid Interns in the Kentucky Equine Industry Need Greater Statutory Protection

Note by: Sarah Turri

In this note, Sarah Turri explores how working students in Kentucky’s equine industry are treated like unpaid interns, working long hours for little or no pay. She explains that this leaves them without minimum wage or civil rights protections and worsens inequality in the equestrian sport. Turri argues for extending statutory protections to working students and proposes that Kentucky follow other states in safeguarding these vulnerable workers.