Updated Website:
Like our new look? There are some new features for you. There is now a Library Tab with many articles to give information to local politicians and trail advisory boards that continue to use false information to exclude horses from their multiuse trails. Help enlighten them. In addition….
We are looking for some additional support for the website hosting costs for 2008-2009. Please consider a classified ad for boarding, riding lessons, training, etc. I get lots of emails related to boarding and horseback riding lessons. You can also make a donation. Thanks for any help you can be. Contact me at merlerichmond@sbcglobal.net.
Fall 2007: Last fall got away from us with no update. Hopefully everyone enjoyed their fall riding. It culminated on December 13, with the Michigan Equine Conference spear- headed by the Michigan Equine Partnership with assistance from the Michigan Horse Council and Michigan State University. The evening of December 12 had a welcome dinner with keynote speakers Don Loivisto, Director-Michigan Department of Agriculture and Jack Smith, KEEP Board of Directors, Thoroughbred Racing. There was a reception before dinner for networking. Thursday, December 13 open with a keynote speaker, Mike Yoder, Equine Specialist from North Carolina State University during breakfast. The morning consisted of several breakout sessions under the headings of Economic Development, Education, Enviroment and Land Use, Legislative and Regulation.
The topics covered in each major breakout session were: Economic Developments included area equine facilities and the feasibility of a World Class Equine Facility to be built in Michigan. Education included the topics of Youth, formal education, adult non-professional and adult professional education. Environment and Land Use included Manure Management, Pasture Management, Master Planning & Zoning and Trails Issues.
The afternoon was devoted to the presentation of the Michigan Equine Survey that many of you may have taken part in. Remember it was not a census, but a statistical survey. The survey showed that in 2007 there were 155,000 horses in Michigan up from 130,000 reported during the last survey in 1996. The four most numerous breeds were quarter horses, paint horses, Arabians and standardbreds—accounting for more than half of the horses in the state. The majority was used from recreational or pleasure riding. The number of equine operations in Michigan has also increased. There were 35,000 in 2007, about 6,300 more than were reported during the last survey in 1996. Oakland County still led the stat in highest number of horses in a county with 6,900Total equine assets including land, buildings and animals in Michigan was valued at $7.8 billion. The 2007 statistics were drawn from 3,600 completed questionnaires. Michigan’s survey was conducted by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, with the Michigan field office. The complete report is available on line at www.nass.usda.gove. Look under the menu “Statistics by State”. These statistics were published in the April issue of Equus. A formal report will be forth coming soon, with conclusions.
Equine Affaire: Coming again to the Ohio Expo Center in Columbus, OH, April 10-13. Some of the clinics Clinton Anderson, Craig Cameron, Tim Grubb, Bob Avila, Martha Josey, Julie Goodnight, Stacy Westfall, Kenny Harlow and others plus the huge trade show and the Pfizer Fantasia on all three nights. Check the website at www.equineaffaire.com.
Michigan Horse Council Stallion Expo: Another successful Expo. The crowd was larger than normal on Friday and good crowds on Saturday and Sunday. Lots of good shopping, good presenters and some fun horse presentations to watch. Hope you all got there and had some fun thinking that spring will soon be here and we’ll be doing our horsey things.
Trail Issues:
1. Michigan Equine Partnership Trail Meeting: Many of you may have gotten the email about the Michigan Equine Partnership PAC hosting a meeting on January 8, 2008 with trail riders to see if they could help us. The notification did not give much of a window of time, so not too many trail riders could attend. It was held in Lansing and on a workday. Reports are that the meeting in January was small and rushed. While they tried to grasp the bigger picture, the thought was that they were looking for money to be an advocate. They did not seem to feel any passion for our trail perils. They wanted to understand and be our advocate, but they also wanted to be paid to do so. The thought keeps arising that we do need a state wide advocacy group, maybe with other non-motorized users in one person’s mind. One claim is that the DNR does not see us as separate from the other non-motorized users. Personally I am not sure of that, since they have gone out of their way to exclude horses on some DNR owned trails. We need to investigate this further. Our trail riding groups could join this MEP-PAC.
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