The Regional Caucus Meetings continue Tuesday, April 27th. This meeting will be held in Polk County at the Isothermal Community College Campus, located at 1255 West Mills Street, Columbus, N.C. Directions can be found by going to www.mapquest.com and typing in the address listed above.
The North Carolina Horse Council hosted a series of Regional Caucus Meetings in February. These meetings were held throughout the state in Lumberton, Williamston, Fletcher, Raleigh, and Reidsville. For additional information, please contact the NC Horse Council office at (919) 854-1990 or toll free at 1-800-529-9206.
Major Equine Issues for North Carolina
Legislative and Regulatory Issues
a. Present Use Value and other taxation issues
b. Agricultural Definitions: Livestock
c. Federal Issues of Unwanted Horse
d. Federal Issues on Transportation of Horses for the purposes of Human Consumption
e. Inclusion in Farmland Preservation Program
f. Water and Nutrient Legislation
g. Land Use: Trails, open space, conservation
Education and Welfare Needs
a. Standards of Care and Management of Horses (fencing, feed, space, housing) (State Horse Council's question on Certification of Welfare/Rescue Facilities)
b. Agricultural Extension Agents: Needs of Equestrians, programs, etc.
c. Building the Industry for our Young Riders: Developing programs to bring people into the industry
d. Safety Issues: Equine Safe Farms (Equine Accidents are the second most common on our farms)
e. Health Issues of our stock
f. Training for our Equine Professionals: Vet School, Farriers, etc.
Facilities
a. Conditions and Usage of existing facilities
b. Development of new facilities
Marketing and Growth of the Industry
a. Travel and Tourism
b. Recreational needs
c. Promotion of Equine Businesses
d. Development of Racing
Other Issues
a. Therapeutic Riding Programs and Insurance
b. Life skill development and rehabilitation programs for riders
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Synopsis of Lumberton Caucus - Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Southeastern Agricultural Center
The Southeastern Agricultural Center graciously hosted the NCHC Lumberton Regional Caucus on Wednesday, February 17th beginning at 6:30 pm. The meeting was very well attended with representatives from multiple equine disciplines, activities and businesses. In addition, members of local government, Farm Bureau and the NC Board of Agriculture were also represented.
The following is a brief synopsis of the meeting discussion.
Critical Equine Issues were presented by Sue Gray, Executive Director of the NCHC. These issues in their entirety can be located on the NCHC website at: www.nchorsecouncil .com
Caucus members identified several areas of concern to the region. These included:
1. The building of a new multi-purpose facility which will include equine activities. State dollars have been identified for this project and a proposed groundbreaking ceremony is set for April 20th
- Questions about the building design were raised. No one present has seen the blueprints for the building. The NCHC will request the plans from Kent Yelverston of the NCAD &CS. The need to express support for the utilization of this new equine facility was also discussed. The strategy of writing letters of intent to utilize the new facility by bringing shows, events, livestock activities etc was also decided upon. Request for letters of intent will be made by members of the caucus present and letters will be collected by the NCHC Office for distribution to the NCDA&CS and other state agencies.
- Other ideas were also discussed to help utilize the facility and support the building of stalls. Making the Center a "way lay" facility for equine travelers' along the I-95 corridor was one way to help pay for stalls
- The NC Quarter Horse representative present at the Caucus shared that they were having a meeting with the local and state legislators on Tuesday, February 22nd and that the caucus members were welcome to attend to express their support of the new facility. Follow-up from this meeting will be shared with caucus members at the next meeting.
2. Agri-Tourism in Robeson County and surrounding areas
- Developing and Improving access to trails such as the Lumber River was discussed
- Developing access to trails and marketing the area as a tourist destination was discussed. A new travel and tourism person has recently been hired and the caucus will make contact with her to continue the discussion
Caucus members were encouraged to join the NCHC to establish strength in numbers.
The next meeting was set for April 20th at 6:30 pm
If anyone has any additional information to post to the Caucus, please submit them to the NCHC Office and they will be distributed to the group.
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NCHC Western Region Caucus Meeting - Minutes 22 February 2010
In attendance:
Sue Gray, Executive Director
Tom Thomas and Nancy Z. Wilson Board of Directors
40 + in attendance representing Marion, Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Polk, Rutherfordton Counties.
Meeting called to order at 6:30 PM
Past Meeting Review
Ex. Director Sue Gray opened meeting and introduced new BOD, Thomas and Wilson to caucus. Attendees were brought up to speed from November's meeting, the Equine Industry Study as a 2 billion dollar industry in NC.
NCHC Updates
1) Lumberton caucus meeting had a large attendance. Two main issues are being addresses by this region. First, how to bring in additional funding for a new SE facility and, second, how to develop support for the current NC Agricultural program. As a multipurpose facility, the SE agricultural center will break ground on April 20, 2010. Small, medium, and large groups are being asked to give letters of intent for use at the SE Ag. Center. As this facility is close to the I-95 corridor, one potential use will be for layovers. Key community leaders and legislators are currently being identified by caucus leadership.
2) Martin County had approximately 25 in attendance. The Williamston facility has recently add 200 stalls. Little economic infrastructure exists in this area. This is a state owned/run facility planned for multipurpose use. Ideas from this caucus were to pursue student equine internships through Martin County Community College and to discuss the development of a statewide magazine on the NC horse.
Major Equine Issues
Ex. Director Sue Gray led discussions from Legislative, Education, Welfare, Facilities, Marketing and Growth of the Equine Industry and more.
Highlights
- The horse must stay defined as livestock.
- Inclusion in Farmland Preservation Program.
- Promotion of equine safe farms.
- Increasing jobs/programs for youth.
- Equine professional training.
- Standards development/guidelines for care and management of horses.
- Water and Nutrient legislation.
- Unwanted horses, legislation for transport, etc.
Facilities
- Fletcher facility is self-supporting.
- Although Equine Industry Study suggested a study of the potential development of a mega horse complex in the state, the Western Caucus members felt it is simply not feasible. Need to support facilities in place already.
Marketing/Growth of Equine Industry
- Possible state-wide trail.
- Posting signs similar to wineries across the state.
- Supporting recreational needs---trail riding top use of horses in state.
- Looking at para-mutual racing. This would need a lot more discussion and was not discussed at length during this meeting.
Other Issues
- Therapeutic riding programs-need for insurance and consistent standards/training.
- Wellness use for older horses in state and potential rehab programs for riders.
SUMMARY
The next meeting will be held in April at Polk County's Isothermal CC Campus in Columbus, NC hosted by the Economic Development of Polk County, Kipp McIntyre and Ambrose Mills. Time and date to be posted on NCHC website.
Western Region Priorities
1) The western region would like to focus on educational programs and the need to support those in place already with additional funding.
2) Looking at the possibility of procuring state money to support local equine complexes such as Harmon Field, FENCE, GCEP, and other sites in the region beyond grants. Increasing support for all western facilities.
3) Increase NCHC membership throughout the western region.
4) Increase trails, their use, and maintenance throughout the west.
5) Increase educational opportunities.
Minutes submitted by Nancy Z. Wilson, 2/26/10
Synopsis of Martin County
NCHC Regional Caucus Meeting
In attendance: Sue Gray, Executive Director, Casey Armstrong, NCHC Board Members, representatives from the Martin Agricultural Center, representatives from Martin Community College, and other local horsemen.
The evening began with a review of the previous meetings. The Martin Community College students, who attended the last meeting, fulfilled their promise to return and bring a friend! Thanks to all of these wonderful students!
A discussion of major equine issues occupied the remainder of the evening. While equine facilities are major issues, with the addition of two new barns, the primary discussion was on how to increase the utilization of the facility. Ideas included:
1. Better advertisement of what is going on at the Center
2. A need for more "infra-structure" such as hotels, restaurants and other tourists or points of interest
Other topics for discussion included the potential need for a statewide NC Horse Magazine. Perhaps if there was a one source, "go to " guide to all that is equine in the state, this might increase utilization of the facilities and promote the equine industry as a whole.
The group also discussed other methods of communication and education. Several Martin Community College students mentioned the possibility of working with the Horse Council via student internships. Ideas for possible work included:
1. Building a Check list of our state legislators and their votes on equine friendly legislation
2. Contacting all of the state feed stores and building an email database to facilitate communication.
The next meeting was scheduled for April 15, 2010
Synopsis of the Rockingham County
NCHC Regional Caucus
The Rockingham County Regional Caucus met on Tuesday, February 23rd at Rockingham Community College. While it was a small group of caucus members present, we spent a great deal of time discussing the major equine issues in the state. Representatives at the meeting included: Sue Gray, Executive Director of the NCHC, Rebecca Stinson, New NCHC Board Member, Joan Zdanski from the City Council, representatives from NC Agricultural Extension and NC A & T University as well local horsemen.
A review of the past two meetings was presented along with the major equine issues in the state. A major discussion was held on how to unify horsemen and get people engaged with promoting and growing the industry.
Ideas that were discussed included:
1. Finding discussion topics which would unify the diverse interests of horsemen
2. Getting people to understand the need to join the NCHC as a strong voice for their interest
3. Animal welfare issues
4. Addressing misconceptions of the Horse Industry and the Horse Park of the South
5. Creating customers for the new arenas
The group decided to plan the next meeting for April 12, 2010 and invite representatives from the Horse Park of the South to give an update on the facility. In addition, we discussed providing an information session on equine liability laws and how they relate to all horsemen. Ben Chase offered to host the meeting. Directions for the meeting will be posted on the NCHC Website.
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