NEWS & VIEWS continued from page 9 Will you rise to the challenge? continued...
dividual county, such as the various Sunday hunting bills that have been introduced in the past (and more are coming this session, including Montgomery County, Howard County and the Eastern Shore). It doesn’t matter if the Horse Council is at the hearing, testifying as a statewide organization; if there are no or few county residents there, the legislators may not feel any con- stituent pressure. What are the most eff ective things you can do to infl uence a piece of proposed legislation?
Legislators are infl uenced by: · Constituents from the county, if it is a county specifi c bill; they do not give much weight to voices from outside the county · Showing up in person to testify at a hearing. If you don’t want to actually testify, just show up at the hearing in riding clothes (if it is a horse related issue) and/or let someone who will be testifying on your side of the issue know that you are there, so they can point out all the people who have come to listen. · If you can’t show up at the hearing, make a phone call to the legislator’s offi ce, or send a per- sonalized letter or email (better than straight form letters/emails), and make sure you include your town and county of residence. As the session in Annapolis gets underway, the Horse Council may put out calls to action on
certain bills. Even though this is sometimes on short notice, we need you to respond - come to Annapolis to testify or just “pack the room,” make phone calls, send emails. T ere is, frankly, no other path to success. T e Maryland Horse Council can help, but it cannot do it without you.
opposed to all Sunday deer hunting. However, TROT had no offi cial representation at the hearing (although several members reported emailing in letters). Likewise, there was no representation from any other recreational users of the land, such as mountain bikers or the scouting groups. Currently the bill is drafted to include private and public land. Del. Fraser-Hidalgo swears that is a drafting error, and that it will be cor- rected. T e Equiery will be skeptical of this promise until the actual bill is amended. Jane Seigler expressed great disappointment to see such a profound lack of engagement with the hearing from local trail riders: “I wonder how much time and eff ort we [i.e. MHC] need to continue to expend on this issue. I would have thought that if there was any jurisdic- tion that would be strongly opposed to Sunday hunting, it would be Montgomery County. But maybe people just don’t care that much.” As of press time, and in response to contin-
ued pressure from Montgomery Ag Producers, Fraser-Hidalgo plans to amend his bill to pre- serve all three of the current full days of Sunday hunting, the Youth Day, plus two others. If the bill is approved by the Montgomery County delegation, it will be introduced into the 2017 Legislative Session in Annapolis, as all hunt- ing is regulated at the State level. A bill will have a high probability of passing, as it will be a County delegation bill and, it is considered a courtesy in Annapolis to easily pass County delegation bills.
Hogan denies funding for Baltimore County Indoor
T e Baltimore Sun accuses Governor Hogan of using the horse industry as a political pawn;
www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580
To read more about Hogan and the Maryland Board of Public Works denial of $2.3 million in Program Open Space funding to build an indoor equestrian facility at the Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park in Hunt Valley, see
equiery.com.
Assateague Naming Rights Auction
Leigh Shuck of Frederica, Delaware, placed the highest bid in the fi rst of four “Name T at Foal” fundraising eBay auctions held by the As- sateague Island Alliance. Each year, Assateague Island Alliance holds the fundraising auction for Maryland’s As- sateague Island National Seashore’s wild horse management program. With the National Seashore’s horse popula-
tion at 89 horses, well within the target range of 80-100, more mares have been allowed to foal and six horses were born into the herd in 2016. Shuck chose to name N2BHS-O, a sorrel colt,
Sarah’s SweetTea to honor her late daughter. “I lost my daughter, Sarah, to cancer in 2009.
She loved to ride horses and had one of her own. I have chosen the name ‘Sarah’s Sweet- Tea’ for this colt in honor of my Sarah. She loved drinking sweet tea and was my sweety,” said Shuck. Sarah’s SweetTea was the fi rst foal to be born in the Maryland herd of Assateague horses in 2016. His dam is the famed Carol’s Girl (N2BHS), who is immune to the contraceptive vaccine PZP used to control the horse popula- tion. His sire is most likely the pinto stallion Yankee (N9BM-E). All three horses tend to stay in the developed zone of Assateague Island National Seashore and Assateague State Park. T e results of the other auctions will be an- nounced in January, so stay tuned to
equiery.com.
Maryland Horse Council to “Go Big” As former president Steuart Pittman has
quipped, the time has come for the Maryland Horse Council to “go big or go home,” and so, in order to “go big,” MHC is looking to “go big” with an association management fi rm. MHC was founded 30 years ago specifi cally for the purpose of infl uencing legislators to cre- ate a horse park; that horse park is the Prince George’s Equestrian Center. By the time it was fi ve years old, MHC had shifted to a statewide mission: to represent the diverse horse indus- try at the state level on legislative and regula- tory matters. Since the mid-90s, membership and activities have skyrocketed, and as current president Jane Seigler explains, “We’ve kind of become a victim of our own success.” Until 10 years ago, MHC was managed com-
pletely by volunteers, and for about 15 years, T e Equiery actually provided the manage- ment services for MHC. By 2006, MHC had outgrown T e Equiery’s ability to manage it as a “volunteer” (i.e., donating our labor and our resources) and so MHC hired its fi rst associa- tion manager, Vanessa Finney, who also worked part time for several other associations. Soon one of those associations snapped her up full time. MHC lobbyist Nancy Hill helped bridge the gap until Mythic Landing Enterprises was hired to provide administrative services. T is was during the presidency of Steuart Pittman, and it was during his administration that ac- tivities and committees really began to rock and roll. (Steuart will be the fi rst to admit that he was handed a gift by his predecessor, Mike Erskine, who had led the MHC leadership through a grueling self-examination, which produced short-, mid- and long-range plans and goals, a blueprint embraced by leadership since). When Jane Seigler became president, the
organization had grown to such an extent that she became the de facto executive director, over- seeing the professional administrative services provided by Mythic Landing. It should be not- ed that “executive directors” are generally paid, due to the intense level of administrative and management work involved, but Jane dedicated her time as a volunteer. With Jane’s tenure as president soon end-
ing, it became readily apparent to both Mythic Landing and the MHC Executive Committee (which meets monthly to oversee MHC) that MHC needed more than professional adminis- trative services. MHC is fi nally ready for a pro- fessional executive director and an association management fi rm. MHC is considering partnering with Grow
& Fortify, an association management com- pany specializing in value-added agricultural commodities. Clients include the Maryland Wineries Association, the Brewers Association of Maryland, Maryland Distillers Guild, vari- continued on page 108
JANUARY 2017 | THE EQUIERY | 97
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116
