NEWS &VIEWScontinued...
Nominated by the Maryland Horse Council because she best exemplifi es the life and spirit of Marge Van Ness, Beverly Raymond’s quiet and subtle infl uence on the horse community in Maryland will last for generations to come. Like Marge Van Ness, Beverly was a founding board member of our state horse council. Beverly immediately saw the benefi ts of an umbrella organization, of “one common interest,
the horse;
one common voice, the Horse Council.” As one of the original members,
Beverly
is the only one who has had the tenacity, the patience, and the dedication to the vision to hang on, to persevere through the lean years. A review of the fi rst two and a half decades of minutes of the Maryland Horse Council shows that Beverly rarely missed a meeting. In addition to her involvement with MHC,
Bev was an early member of the Maryland Combined Training Association, and was a state inspector of riding and boarding stables and veterinary hospitals for the Maryland Department of Agriculture starting in the late 1970s. She was a founding member of the Maryland Horse Council and remains a dedicated worker for its programs. She spearheaded programs for the Maryland Department of Agriculture throughout her career, and is still active in the equine industry today including with her own three horses. MHC has long known that it had a treasure with Beverly, as it has presented Beverly with the Maryland Horse Council Horse Woman of the Year award (for an outstanding career in the industry) and the Anne Pumphrey Unsung Hero Memorial Award (for her behind the scenes contributions). Beverly is a quiet woman, self-eff acing
and modest, working in the background to create a better environment for horses and a stronger Maryland horse industry. Because of her modesty, because she is “off the radar,” her contributions to the industry could easily be overlooked–but this would be a mistake. Like Marge Van Ness in New Jersey, Beverly has been the backbone of the Maryland Horse Council and the Maryland equestrian community. T e Van Ness nomination application states that the recipient must fulfi ll at least one of three criteria; Beverly Raymond does not fulfi ll just one–she more than fulfi lls all three.
1) Successfully worked to pass legislation which has had a benefi cial and signifi cant impact on the horse industry.
12 | THE EQUIERY | JULY 2013
Beverly Raymond receiving the American Horse Council’s Marjorie Van Ness Award from AHC Executive Director Jay Hickey
2) Developed programs through state government or state agencies which promote and represent the interests of all horse people in the state. Beverly has played a key
role in the development of policy and programs at both the Maryland Department of
Agriculture and the Department of Natural Resources.
In the Department of Natural Resources, she helped create the Volunteer Mounted Patrols, was one of the fi rst certifi ed Mounted Patrols, and remains an active advocate for trails. Beverly was a Maryland state employee, and as
such, her activity on legislation was restricted until her recent retirement. However, as a state employee, Beverly’s impact on agency programs and policies aff ecting the horse industry is immeasurable. Beverly was one of our two State Stable Inspectors, and she was based at the Maryland Department of Agriculture for 33 years. Because of her position with the Department of Agriculture,
Beverly had tremendous
infl uence on the development of state policies as they apply to horses. Of particular note is the defi nition of “equine operations” subject to
Beverly has been active on… …legislation that made malicious cruelty to animals a felony, rather than a misdemeanor; …helping to defeat legislation that would have made whips and spurs illegal; …working within the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) to obtain their sponsorship of legislation for the creation of an equine commodity board, the Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB);
…legislation for the creation of a funding source for the Board: the feed fund.
the nutrient management laws. When the law was fi rst enacted, any farm with four “animal units” (regardless of acreage) was subjected to the regulations, with “one animal unit” defi ned as 2,000 pounds. T e regulations used an antiquated federal defi nition of horses (surely going back to the era of plow horses) as one horse equaling 2,000 pounds. T rough Beverly’s role inside the department, we were eventually able to have the nutrient management regulations– as they apply to equine operations–modifi ed. Similarly, Beverly persistently worked with
MDA to expand the defi nition of agriculture to include all horse operations. In 1996, the fi rst milestone was reached when MDA declared an offi cial list of
“alternative agricultural
industries,” which included equine operations. And today,
equine operations are fully
incorporated into the defi nition of agriculture in Maryland, and Beverly’s quiet persistence within the department played an integral role. No doubt, her presence also played a critical
role in helping to convince MDA to support the fi rst-ever U.S. Department of Agriculture equine census in Maryland. Additionally, as a State Stable Inspector,
Beverly was the leading advocate for higher standards of horse care in Maryland. When Beverly began her career as the State Stable Inspector, there were but a fraction of the number of stables that there are today, and among them were the much derided “hack stables” (a phrase which unfortunately became a distasteful word to responsible horse people). Today, Maryland has a thriving industry, with over 600 reputable stables off ering services to the general public, with the term “hack stable” being relegated to the dust bins of memory. In her professional capacity, she helped to
bring about better conditions for school horses, but also for a wide variety of working horses, from the carriage horses providing tours, continued on page 62
The group assembled to cheer Beverly on as she was presented with the AHC Van Ness award represents three decades of Maryland horse industry leadership and service. L-R: Ross Peddicord (who launched his career 40 years ago as an equine journalist), current executive director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board; Ellie Trueman (Trueman Communications), whose template for an industry-wide marketing effort, originally designed at the request of the then-American Horse Show Association (today the United States Equestrian Federation) provided the template for the Maryland Horse Industry Board; Vicki Carson (Flying Chesterfi eld Farm), current MHC representative to the AHC State Horse Council Advisory Committee, a position originally held by Beverly; Jane Seigler, incoming president of the Maryland Horse Council; Jay Hickey, a Maryland resident and the AHC executive director; Beverly Raymond, Van Ness Award Winner (and MHC’s original rep to the AHC-SHCAC); Rob Burk, the fi rst executive director of the MHIB, Jim Steele (Shamrock Farm), chairman of MHIB; Crystal Kimball (The Equiery) former secretary of MHC and MHC rep to AHC-SHCAC. Beverly Raymond, Crystal Kimball and the late Malcolm Commer, Ph.D., under the auspices of MHC and using the template designed by Ellie Trueman for AHSA, created what became the legislation that established the Maryland Horse Industry Board. Huzzah, Beverly!
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