NEWS & VIEWS continued
Regardless, many are giving the credit for this upswing to the increase in purse amounts for the harness and fl at tracks; the increase in the purse amounts is the windfall that comes with the legalization of slots. State leaders were quick to take the opportu-
nity to comment on the good news. “Horses are a critical component of Mary-
land’s agricultural industry. T e continued suc- cess of Maryland’s horse industry is an impor- tant part of growing our economy and creating jobs for more Marylanders, and it’s helping to preserve our farmland and open spaces as well,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “I’m so pleased to see Maryland’s horse in-
dustry making such a comeback after some challenging years. T e horse industry is a major contributor to Maryland’s agricultural econ- omy through hay and bedding suppliers, feed stores and grain growers, and a multitude of small businesses that service the industry,” said the Secretary of Agriculture, Joe Bartenfelder.
T e Real Result of the Study T e real result of the study is that the Maryland horse industry is getting a tremendous amount of play in the mainstream media. And that is a true Christmas present for our community.
MoCo Trail Riders a “no show” for hearing Sunday Deer Hunting
On Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, the Montgom-
ery County Delegation held a public hearing for several bills, including one of particular in-
terest to many in the equestrian com- munity: a bill that would allow Sunday hunting on all Sundays in the bow and fi rearms seasons until 10:30, but pre- serving all day hunting Youth Sunday. T e bill is sponsored by Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo. Most of the support was in favor of the bill. T ose testifying in support of expanding deer hunting to Sundays included the Montgomery Civic As- sociation (who specifi cally favored all Sundays, but for bow only); the Montgomery Agricultural Producers (MAP) and the Montgomery County Farm Bureau,
with each group ex-
pressing their preference for a more aggressive and expansive bill than this one.
Despite aggressive outreach ef-
forts to Montgomery County only three people spoke against expanding Sunday deer hunting, although each agreed to accept a compromise: Jane Seigler, president of the Maryland Horse Council and a Montgomery County resident; Joe Michael, a mem- ber of Goshen Hunt in Montgomery County, and Anne Davies, a member of the Potomac Hunt in Montgomery. TROT, or Trail Riders of Today, is a trail riding organization based in Montgomery County, and is offi cially
continued on page 97 Getting social with The Equiery! continued...
Facebook page, FINALLY helping us exceed the 7,000 mark! We will head into the New Year with 7,027 followers! T ank you, and Happy New Year from T e Equiery!
Twitter (@equiery) T e Equiery’s twitter ac-
count for the past month showed a huge variety in tweets, retweets and “loves.” Most recently on December 20, the USEF (@USequestrian) opened its voting for National and International Horse of the Year with lots of people voting online! Ra- dio host Stan Salter celebrated his birthday on December 18 with a lot of shout outs from friends and fans including Maryland Racing Sec- retary Georganne Hale (@bigdreyfus). Maryland’s newest casino, the MGM National Harbor, opened on December 8 with a ton of coverage by @cbsbaltimore and our own tweet about All Bets Off winning the inagural $100,000 Potomac Pace was shared and liked by many.
Instagram (@equiery) December was an active month for T e Equiery’s Instagram ac- count. We scored some new followers (thank you!), and had a lot of fun going out and about with you. T e month started with the Loch Moy Donation Derby, which had some of our most popular posts including the photo of the sharply dressed Fjord Mikkee and owner Dale Clabaugh all decked out for Christmas, as well as video of David Taylor going down the prelim steps. We dressed up and went indoors (and got out of the cold for a while) for the premiere of the movie “Christ- mas Ranch” at the historic Senator T eatre. A photo of T e Equiery’s Jennifer Webster be- ing interviewed was the most popular of the evening. December’s Instagram posts ended
with photos of the Great Lisbon Farmers Feed the Hungry Christmas Parade. T e horses were back and everyone was thrilled. T e most liked photo from parade day was of the Goshen Hounds (and what fabulously well-behaved hounds they were) parading through the streets of Lisbon. A brief video clip of two tiny spotted miniature horses pulling the Nativity scene was the most liked video of parade day.
IF YOU HAVE NEWS, VIEWS OR UPDATES TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE SEND THEM TO 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 JANUARY 2017 | THE EQUIERY | 9
Will you rise to the challenge? If not you, who? By Jane Seigler, president of the Maryland Horse Council
T e 2017 Maryland Legislative session will convene on January 11. During the session, several thousand bills will be introduced, most will have at least one hearing, and many will be enacted into law and become eff ective in ways that may aff ect your life or the lives of your family and friends profoundly. T e Maryland Horse Council works very hard during the session (and even before it starts) to learn about, track and lobby bills that may aff ect horse people and the horse indus- try. And the Horse Council has been successful in in- fl uencing the outcome of many bills. But one thing is certain: THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN- FLUENCING WHETHER A BILL WILL PASS OR DIE IS THE NUMBER OF CONSTITU- ENTS WHO SPEAK UP ABOUT IT. So, if you care, you need to speak up. Why is this? Because legislators want to get re-elect-
ed. T is fact, to one degree or another, aff ects every- thing they do. T is means that they work hard to proj- ect an image of being responsive to and caring about the needs and desires of their constituents. So - if there is a piece of legislation before them and they hear mostly from constituents who support it, and hear almost nothing from opponents, all other things being equal they will feel inclined to respond to the constituent voices they have heard, and vote to support the legislation. T is becomes especially important when a Maryland bill is introduced that is specifi cally directed to an in-
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