NEWS&VIEWS You Can Use Mechanicsville Animal Cruelty Case


On September 14, Jennifer Katherine Hurry of Mechanicsville was charged with one felony animal cruelty charge and 16 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. T e initial hearing on the case was scheduled for October 8. According to court documents, the St. Mary’s


County Animal Control supervisor fi rst con- tacted the St. Mary’s County Sheriff ’s Offi ce on January 5 with concerns about the neglect and maltreatment of several animals on a secluded property in Leonardtown. Hurry, who is 53, confi rmed that the animals on the property be- longed to her. A drone was used by the Sheriff ’s Offi ce to observe the area before a search war- rant was obtained and executed on January 21. After two veterinarians inspected the ani-


mals, 19 horses, three cows, two goats and sev- eral fowl were removed from the property. Two dead horses that were not buried properly were also discovered. Necropsy revealed that one of the horses died of starvation when bone mar- row examination showed the horse had 2.8% body fat at the time of its death. Healthy horses typically have 81.7% body fat. T is case is ongoing. We will print updates in future print issues as well as on equiery.com.


NRHA Ceases Negotiations with FEI On October 2, the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) announced that it would no longer collaborate with the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) after a series of failed negotiations. T e FEI announced in 2020 that it had terminated the original agreement with NRHA but then approved a new “Memo- randum of Understanding” in June 2021. NRHA said that the NRHA Board of Di-


rectors, Executive Committee, and Task Force members were “comfortable with that agree- ment, which would have created a framework for a limited group of international champion- ships.” On September 15 of this year, however, FEI sent a draft agreement that was not satis- factory to NRHA. “We are unsure of what led up to this development, and why NRHA was not consulted,” NRHA President Rick Clark stated. “At this time, the Executive Commit- tee, with the support of the NRHA Board of Directors, has made the decision to not move forward with a new agreement with FEI.” NRHA Commissioner Gary Carpenter added, “NRHA has worked diligently over the past two


years to collaboratively negotiate a new agree- ment and made it a top priority for the as- sociation…. We remained fully committed to working closely with the FEI and were excit- ed for what the future held. Unfortunately, a lack of direct and clear communication from FEI has been one of the biggest hurdles.”


MHC Sends Letter in Support of Wheaton Park Stables


Montgomery County is updating its Mas-


ter Plan for Wheaton Regional Park. Dur- ing a public meeting on September 9, the county said that while the Wheaton Park Stables are safe for now, it is keeping open the option to re-purpose the privately-op- erated Wheaton Park Stables (WPS) to a diff erent use at some point in the future. WPS is an Industry Professional member of


Maryland Horse Council, and we have urged Montgomery County to keep the stables open. WPS diff ers from most other eques- trian programs in Montgomery County be- cause it is within walking distance of a dense suburban population that is dominated by a de- mographic that does not typically have access to horses, horse farms, riding lessons, or any expo- sure to agriculture or rural life. It is also one of the most, if not the most, aff ordable riding pro- grams in lower Montgomery County, or, indeed, anywhere in the Washington metropolitan area. WPS is the type of recreational program


that Maryland needs more of, and that Mont- gomery County needs to support. Indeed, it is the policy of both Governor Hogan and the General Assembly that Maryland needs to do a better job of making outdoor recreational activities available to a wider cross-section of our population. For example, last August, the Maryland General Assembly created the State Park Investment Commission to study, among other things, “the extent to which State parks and associated recreational opportuni- ties are adequately accessible to all popula- tions of Marylanders, including low-income Marylanders, those who lack access to a car, and Marylanders with disabilities.” See Press Release, House Speaker and Senate President Announce State Park Investment Commission (August 6, 2021). Although this commission is focused on state parks, the issues of equity and accessibility apply to local parks as well. For more on WPS, see page 46.


Kudos to Hilltop Farm’s Oldenburg stallion, Qredit, who recently won the Dressage at Devon Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle CDI-W.


New CCI4* in Maryland! T e Board of Directors of the US Equestrian


Federation (USEF) approved a list of venues


to host CCI4*-S, CCI3*-L and Advanced level competitions for the 2023-2027 calendar on October 2. Included on the list of 35 competi- tions are three in Maryland. Remaining on the calendar will be the Ad- vanced division at the Fair Hill International in April and the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill in October, both located at the Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area in Elkton. New to the calendar is the addition of a


CCI4*-S division at T e Maryland Interna- tional, held in July at Loch Moy Farm in Ad- amstown. T is event already holds CCI-S com- petitions at the one-, two- and three-star levels


ASPCA Humane Awards On October 13, the ASPCA celebrated this


year’s winners of its Humane Awards during a virtual Humane Awards Luncheon. Recipients included the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) and a Baltimore Rottweiler. RRP was founded by Steuart Pittman, who


is a former President of the Maryland Horse Council and the current County Executive for Anne Arundel County. RRP received the


continued... IF YOU HAVE NEWS, VIEWS OR UPDATES TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE SEND THEM TO THE EDITOR at


The Equiery, P.O. Box 610, Lisbon, MD 21765 • FAX: 410-489-7828 • email editor@equiery.com. Be sure to include your full name, phone number and address. All submissions become the property of The Equiery.


www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580 THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | NOVEMBER 2021 | 9


Stacy Lynne


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