THE MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL ONE COMMON BOND - THE HORSE • ONE COMMON VOICE - MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL


MHC News & Updates The Horse Council PAC needs a boost!


T e Maryland Horse Council was founded in 1985 to be the trade association for the entire horse industry, to unite the industry, and ad- vance its interests and initiatives with the state government and the general public. T e Horse Council established its Political Action Com- mittee (PAC) in 2011 to provide its members and the public with a way to fi nancially support the campaigns of candidates for state offi ce who understand and support our policy agenda. T e recent elections have resulted in a num-


ber of new legislators in Annapolis - new politicians have new agendas and new views on Maryland horses. Some may not know anything at all about horses and the important role they play in Maryland’s economy and quality of life. T ere are many laws aff ecting horses and horse people that may be proposed during each legislative session in Annapolis. Some of those proposed laws may aff ect such issues as: Horse Slaughter • Horse Seizure • Sunday Hunting • Police En-


forcement of Helmet Use • Ag Preservation Funding • Funding for the Horse Industry Board • Raiding the Horse Racing Fund • Sales Tax on Ag Equipment • Trails Funding • Funding for Equestrian Facilities • the Feed Fund • Stable Licensing Rules • Permits for Barns • Manure Spreading Restrictions • Zoning For Horses • and more. It is the Horse Council’s job to acquaint all legislators with our con- cerns about all these potential issues, and our importance to the state of Maryland. T e PAC is an important tool in promoting our message and elevating our profi le in Annapolis. Running for public offi ce is expensive, and all candidates truly appreci- ate and remember their donors. T e Horse Council PAC was completely depleted during the recent campaign; it needs to be replenished quickly, so some important distributions can be made before the session starts in January. By state law, no distributions from the PAC can be made to leg- islators’ campaigns when the legislature is in session (January 9 - April 9). T is is where YOU come in. Please donate to the PAC TODAY!!! Make checks payable to “Horse Council PAC,” and mail to PO Box 606, Lisbon, MD 21765, or go to: mdhorsecouncil.org and click on the “Donate” button for the PAC. Horse Council PAC contributions go into a fund that gets distributed to the campaigns that are selected after consultation with the Maryland Horse Council Executive Committee, Legislative Committee, and Board of Direc- tors. All contributions and disbursements are recorded with the Maryland Election Commission.


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Highlights from MHC Annual Meeting - November 13th While a full MHC year-in-review will be in your January issue of T e


Equiery, we wanted to emphasize a few items discussed at this year’s Annual Meeting. First, attendance is critical! We must have a quorum of the board to vote. Sadly, a quorum was not present and we missed by just one board member. We did, however, see a number of new faces to MHC and raffl ed off


a lovely basket for the Horse Council PAC. T e raffl e raised $240, but remember, more funds are needed NOW and before the next legislative session begins. Send your checks today! President Neil Agate called the meeting to order promptly at 7 pm.


We were lucky to have Brittney Carow, director of our own Maryland Equine Transition Service, provide an update on the program to date. We have now transitioned 8 horses, made 29 assessment visits, and re- ceived nearly 90 phone calls from horse owners in need of our assistance. T is has all been accomplished within just three short months! If you are not yet following the METS Facebook page, please check it out at https://www.facebook.com/MDEquineTransition/. We also received updates from industry leaders Ross Peddicord, the


Maryland Horse Industry Board, and Dr. Amy Burk, University of Maryland. Additional details of their presentations will be available in the January issue of T e Equiery. T en Past President Jane Seigler took the podium as Chair of our


Legislative Committee. T is year, the committee has worked diligently and has recently surveyed our membership on the Sunday waterfowl hunting issue. We are still receiving responses from our Directors who spearheaded the outreach to their members, but the consensus thus far is that members oppose Sunday Waterfowl Hunting. More input is needed! Please respond to those emails from your representative Direc- tors. T e Maryland Horse Council has not yet taken an offi cial stance on the issue. It is not clear whether any new legislation on increases to waterfowl hunting will be proposed in the upcoming legislative session in Annapolis. A dwindling population of migratory Canada geese has alarmed the Federal government, which is considering limiting bags and hunting days.


Jane also pointed out that the large legislative turnover after the No-


vember elections means that the Horse Council will need to spend more time educating and building relationships in Annapolis, particularly with the new chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Health and Envi- ronmental Aff airs. We also received a brief update on the Horse Industry Day in Annapolis. Date to be determined. John Blackburn provided a Farm Stewardship update after the com-


mittee’s visit to Waredaca Farm on Saturday, November 10th, followed by Racing updates from Christy Clagett and a Trails and Greenways update from Carolann Sharpe (stepping in for chair Gale Monahan). Vicki Carson of the Maryland Fund for Horses detailed the great success of this year’s AppyFest! Please mark your calendars for May 4-5, 2019, for AppyFest, part two! T ere are 15 horses yet to be adopted on just that farm and she hopes to bring many more of the seized horses to the second AppyFest for adoption placement. T ere will again be a trainer’s challenge. President Neil Agate adjourned the meeting at 8:30 pm.


DECEMBER 2018 | THE EQUIERY | 13


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