• 0Shopping Cart
American Horse Council
  • About Us
    • Leadership
      • Board Of Trustees
      • Governance
      • Staff
      • AHC Committees
    • Membership
      • FAQ’s
      • Become A Member
      • Sponsors
      • AHC Discount Programs
    • Annual Reports
    • Employment Opportunities
    • AHC Internships
  • Issues
    • Legislation
    • Regulations
    • Take Action
      • Congressional Scorecard
  • ELECTION CENTER
    • Get Involved
    • Vote Early!
    • Congressional Scorecard
    • Political Action Committee
    • Legislative Process and How A Law is Enacted
  • AHC Programs
    • AHC Foundation
    • United Horse Coalition
    • Marketing Alliance
    • Equine Disease Communication Center
    • American Horse Council Microchip Look-Up
    • Coalition of State Horse Council
    • DEI – Diversity Equity Inclusion
    • Equine Industry Executive Forum
  • Member Portal
  • Resources
    • ANNUAL CONFERENCE
      • AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL 2023 CONFERENCE
      • AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL 2022 CONFERENCE
      • AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL 2021 CONFERENCE
      • AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL 2020 CONFERENCE
    • Horse Industry Directory
    • Webinars
    • Publications
    • Library and Resources
    • Economics
    • Tax Bulletins For Members
    • 2023 Economic Impact Study
    • Safe Sport
    • National Welfare Code
    • ELD, CDL and Transport Issues
    • Youth Resources
    • National Trails Directory
  • News
  • Calendar
  • CONTACT
    • Submit a question
    • Leave a comment or suggestion
  • Join
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • About Us
    • Leadership
      • Board Of Trustees
      • Governance
      • Staff
      • AHC Committees
    • Membership
      • FAQ’s
      • Become A Member
      • Sponsors
      • AHC Discount Programs
    • Annual Reports
    • Employment Opportunities
    • AHC Internships
  • Issues
    • Legislation
    • Regulations
    • Take Action
      • Congressional Scorecard
  • ELECTION CENTER
    • Get Involved
    • Vote Early!
    • Congressional Scorecard
    • Political Action Committee
    • Legislative Process and How A Law is Enacted
  • AHC Programs
    • AHC Foundation
    • United Horse Coalition
    • Marketing Alliance
    • Equine Disease Communication Center
    • American Horse Council Microchip Look-Up
    • Coalition of State Horse Council
    • DEI – Diversity Equity Inclusion
    • Equine Industry Executive Forum
  • Member Portal
  • Resources
    • ANNUAL CONFERENCE
      • AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL 2023 CONFERENCE
      • AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL 2022 CONFERENCE
      • AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL 2021 CONFERENCE
      • AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL 2020 CONFERENCE
    • Horse Industry Directory
    • Webinars
    • Publications
    • Library and Resources
    • Economics
    • Tax Bulletins For Members
    • 2023 Economic Impact Study
    • Safe Sport
    • National Welfare Code
    • ELD, CDL and Transport Issues
    • Youth Resources
    • National Trails Directory
  • News
  • Calendar
  • CONTACT
    • Submit a question
    • Leave a comment or suggestion
  • Join
  • Time to Ride, Microchipping and Putting Horsepower in Congress

TIME TO RIDE, MICROCHIPPING AND PUTTING HORSEPOWER IN CONGRESS

The AHC’s Annual Meeting wrapped up on Tuesday, June 14th with the National Issues Forum, sponsored by Luitpold Animal Health. Presentations and discussions about the successful Time to Ride campaign and benefits of Microchipping kicked off the morning. Senator Pat Robert (R-KS) also spoke on the importance of the industry and hearing from constituents.

Christie Schulte of Lead Change Management Inc. and Marketing Manager of the AHC Time to Ride campaign, kicked off the session by providing an overview of the campaign and its goal to not only grow the horse industry, but to make the equine experience attractive and accessible to newcomers. She also gave an update to meeting attendees on the progress of Time to Ride in 2016, as well as the new programs and sweepstakes that were introduced this year. Most notably, Time to Ride will be working with the United States Equestrian Federation on the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign to engage youth in as many Olympic sports as possible.

“I was delighted to share the success of Time to Ride over the last two years, which has introduced over 60,000 new people to horses,” said Christie Schulte. “With the support of the AHC Marketing Alliance, Time to Ride’s strategy continues to focus on growing the horse industry through programs that help horse professionals convert non-riding moms and families into equestrians, and eventually horse owners and participants in the industry. To meet and collaborate with the equine industry leaders present at the AHC Issues Forum was extremely valuable to the growth and success of Time to Ride.”

Matt Iuliano, Executive Vice President and Executive Director of The Jockey Club, Mary Babick, Vice President of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association, and Summer Stoffel, who serves on the USEF Horse Recording & ID Task Force Committee, spoke on a panel about benefits of microchipping.  Each has been intimately involved in their organizations move to requiring microchipping.

“With microchipping, you don’t have to worry about spelling the name correctly or what year the horse was born,” said Matt Iuliano. “This would be a lot more efficient than dragging a clipboard around saying, ‘Who is that horse again?’ and being told, ‘That’s the horse we call Skippy.’ Hospitals have leveraged this type of technology for years. You get a band and your entire history is attached to that band.” Iuliano also discussed how pedigree, performance, and breeding histories could be attached to the horse’s microchip number, creating greater ease of information transfer after sales.

“Consumer confidence was low,” said Mary Babick. “The main goal of this rule was to increase customer confidence. It is far too easy to fudge a horse’s age and/or reputation, which sometimes done very innocently and other times with the intention to conceal. Microchipping will begin the change toward more reliable horse identification, allowing horse owners and buyers to be absolutely sure of a horse’s identity.”

“The future of any industry is data,” said Summer Stoffel. “Microchipping for horses has been used successfully in Europe since 2006 to monitor horse welfare, protect against theft, prevent fraud, track competition eligibility, and for tracing in the event of a disease outbreak. It is a safe, reliable, less painful way to provide permanent, unchangeable positive identification.”

Senator Pat Roberts closed out the National Issues Forum by addressing one of the priorities that the AHC has been working on—the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act. “The Agriculture Committee intends to take action on forestry related legislation, such as the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act, which utilizes volunteers to help maintain access to priority trails on National Forest land,” said Senator Roberts. “I understand that the American Horse Council supports this legislation along with a broad coalition of stakeholders.  As you can see, we clearly have our work cut out for us over the next several months, and I look forward to continuing to work with our agriculture sector constituents to find resolution on these outstanding issues.”

Save the Date for the 2017 Annual Meeting and National Issues Forum—June 11-14, 2017 at the Washington Court Hotel.

  • Recent Posts

    • 2023 – Call for Horse Industry Directory Listings
    • Hay Shortages, Prices & Spoilage putting strain on Horse Owners wallets
    • It’s the most wonderful time of the Year. To Give the gift of securing your horse passion this holiday season!
    • AHC Office to relocate January 1, 2023
    • American Horse Council’s Marketing Alliance Introduces Here For Horses, Designed To Help Create Lifelong Associations With the Horse Industry
  • Archives

  • The American Horse Council is a Guidestar Silver Participant

    The AHC believes that the more opportunities available to use horses in various activities, the better the overall health of the industry and those who participate.


    1775 Tysons Blvd
    5th Floor
    Suite 6110
    McLean VA, 22102
    General Phone: 202.296.4031
    E-Mail: info@horsecouncil.org

    About Us

    • Membership
    • Board Of Trustees
    • AHC Internships
    • AHC Programs
    • AHC Membership Directory
    • Annual Reports

    Issues

    • Legislation
    • Regulations
    • Take Action

    Resources

    • Webinars
    • Publications
    • ELD, CDL and Transport Issues
    • Library and Resources
    • National Welfare Code
    • Economics
    • National Equine Health Plan
    • Safe Sports

    NEWS

    • Washington Updates
    • Press Releases
    • Archives
    • Calendar
    • Contact Us

    © Copyright - American Horse Council
    Scroll to top
    en English
    ar Arabiczh-CN Chinese (Simplified)nl Dutchen Englishfr Frenchde Germanit Italianpt Portugueseru Russianes Spanish

    Lynda is the membership and communications specialist for the American Horse Council. Lynda grew up in Pasadena, Maryland with a passion for horses. She relocated to San Diego, California, where her dream of owning and riding horses came true. Lynda has worked with several law enforcement mounted units and has participated in several national and international horse associations.

    Lynda believes horses play a major role in our society from therapy horses helping children learn to walk again, to helping military veterans and emergency service personnel learn to cope with stress, to keeping our parks and cities safe through law enforcement mounted units. Along with our equine partners assisting in burial services at Arlington National Cemetery. Horses impact our lives in ways others cannot.

    Lynda believes the horse industry as a whole needs to have a voice and working at the American Horse Council is a way for her to help and keep the industry alive and informed.

    Interested in a Free Microchip for your Horse?

    The United Horse Coalition is offering up to 5 free microchips (while supplies last). Click below for more info on how to get your free chip.

    Click here for more info (don’t worry, we made it easy!)
    Login to your Dashboard
    Lost your password?
    • Lost your password?

    Cliff Williamson is the Director of Health and Regulatory Affairs for the American Horse Council based in Washington D.C.

    He grew up in Reva, VA on his family’s horse farm, participating in both horse and livestock 4-H activities. In 2008 he graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Animal Science, where he was an active member of both the animal science club Block & Bridle as well as the agricultural fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho. After graduation he spent 27 months in Nicaragua with the Peace Corps for their Food Security Program. Upon his return to the United States he spent four years in the animal export industry as the Director of Animal Logistics for T.K. Exports, Inc. In that time he was honored to be appointed to a seat on the Board of Directors for the Culpeper chapter of the Farm Bureau Federation.

    For information regarding any equine health issues, welfare issues, and state, federal and international requirements regarding the movement of horses, please contact Cliff. 

    cwilliamson@horsecouncil.org

    Bryan Brendle is the Director of Policy & Legislative Affairs for the AHC.

    For information regarding public policy, government relations and advocacy, please contact Bryan.

    bbrendle@horsecouncil.org

    With over 30 years of leadership experience in both for-profit and non-profit sectors, Julie holds a BS, MBA, Executive Certificate in Non-Profit Leadership  and is Certified Association Executive®. She’s a life-long horse enthusiast ranging from recreational rider, breeder, and show competitor. A native of NC, she and her husband now reside in DC along with their Pembroke Welsh Corgis and Morgan horses.

    In her down time she enjoys volunteering (she’s president of the board of PATH International), horseback riding, gardening and cooking. “I’m passionate about the equine industry because horses have enhanced my life and well-being so profoundly,” said Julie. “Working at the AHC is a way to give back to the equine community and ensure the long term health of the industry.”

    jbroadway@horsecouncil.org

    X