Letter from the MHC President THE MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL


by Kimberly K. Egan, MHC President T e February issue is one of our favorite issues


because it is our Yearbook of Champions issue. We highlight the many successes that Maryland eques- trians and breeders have achieved during the 2023 season and we always have a plethora of successes to fi ll our pages. Maryland riders won year-end awards in a variety of disciplines, including barrel racing, competitive trail


riding, dressage, eventing, jousting, pony hunters, ranch riding, reining, show hunters, show jumping, and western riding. Read the Yearbook of Champions and National & Special Award Winners sections for many results and photographs. Maryland breeders also fi lled several


competition horse and breeding stock Top 10 lists. T ree of the top ten event horse breeders in the country are Mary- landers. T ree of the horses that won Maryland Combined Training Associa- tion year-end awards were bred in Mary- land. Two of the top ten pony hunter breeders are Marylanders. One of the top ten pony hunter sires and one of the top ten Welsh Pony sires were bred in Mary- land. Two Maryland-bred horses earned North American Dutch Warmblood awards. You can read the complete breed- er results in this month’s Maryland-Bred Sport Horse column. While we are celebrating 2023 cham-


Two Maryland-breds also won divisions at the Wellington Equestrian


Festival (WEF) Premiere (Jan. 2-7) in Wellington, Florida. Indigo Mid- night, a 2016 T oroughbred mare bred by Anna Harold, was Champion Take 2 T oroughbred Jumper (1.0m) II2b on January 10. Ka-Chow, a 2012 Welsh Pony bred by John Lindsley, was 2024 Champion Itty Bitty Jumper Table II.2b on January 3. She is registered as A Momentary Springtime. We will have full coverage of competition results for January and much of February in our March issue. T e February issue is also the fi rst issue of the year to cover the new


MHC COMMITTEE REPORTS IN THIS ISSUE!


• Government Relations - Read about


which bills MHC is supporting and which bills they are fi ghting against on page 28


• Maryland-Bred Sport Horse - Find out which Maryland breeders have horses


ranked on national Top 10 lists on page 33 • Industry Professionals - Meet new


pions and award winners, we might also celebrate the Maryland-bred horses and ponies who won championships in De- cember and early January. Two Mary- land-breds won their divisions at the Belfi eld Opener Hunter Show at McDonogh School in Owings Mills during the fi rst week of December. T ey are Champion Large Children’s Pony Hunter, Bluestocking, bred by Kim Stewart at Glenwillow, Inc., and Champion Large-Small Pony Hunter Loafer’s Lodge Sweet Georgia Peach bred by John Almond.


members and read about current member news as well as which IP members won MHIB grants on page 38


session of the Maryland General Assembly. T e 2024 session convened at noon on January 10 and will run for 90 days, until April 8. T e session will be dominated by budget battles be- cause the spigot of federal COVID relief funds has been turned off . T e Maryland T oroughbred Operating Authority’s “Pimlico Plus” plan to re-vitalize Mary- land T oroughbred racing will be one of many projects up for debate in the bud- get committees this session, as will, most likely, legislative bond and other funding requests for capital projects. T ere are few bills of interest to the horse industry so far.... A bill to require minors to wear helmets on certain pub- lic and private property, a bill to impose a late fee on boarding, lesson, and rental stables and rescues that are 60 days past their stable license renewal date, and a bill proposing new outdoor lighting stan- dards. We anticipate several more bills to come in over the next few weeks. Our Government Relations Committee col- umn has more details and specifi cs on


each of these bills. In the meantime, settle in with a warming beverage, fl ip through these pages, and marvel at the breadth and strength of our industry.


Thank You To Our Maryland Horse Council Sponsors! join.mdhorsecouncil.org www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580 THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | FEBRUARY 2024 | 7


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