American Horse Council
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The American Horse Council (AHC) is a trade organization in Washington, DC representing the horse industry. It lobbies before Congress and Federal agencies for the interests of the horse industry, and serves as a unified voice for the horse industry.
Membership is open to anyone, but is primarily made up of the following groups:
- Horse Councils of individual states;
- breed organizations;
- horse breeders;
- farriers;
- veterinarians;
- horse owners;
- rodeos,
- race tracks;
- horse industry businesses;
- individuals.
A subcommittee of the American Horse Council, the State Horse Councils Advisory Committee (SHCAC), is made up of representatives of the individual state horse councils, and works on equine issues at the state level, dealing with state legislation, trails & show facilities, state horse expos, etc.
This committee annually presents the Van Ness Award, given in honor and memory of Marjorie Van Ness of New Jersey, a long-time leader and friend to the entire horse industry. This award is presented to an individual that best emulates the dedication and commitment of Marge Van Ness to the improvement of the horse industry at the state level. Past recipients have been:
| 1990 | : | Richard Woolam of Connecticut |
| 1991 | : | Glenn T. Petty of North Carolina |
| 1992 | : | the Indiana Horse Council |
| 1993 | : | Bobbi Lipka of New York |
| 1994 | : | Lt. Col. James Marsh of New Jersey |
| 1995 | : | Ruby Holmquist of Illinois |
| 1996 | : | Jim Real of California |
| 1997 | : | Connie Diedrichs-Kimbrel of Colorado |
| 1998 | : | Valerie Cole of New Mexico |
| 1999 | : | Lisa Derby Oden of New Hampshire |
| 2000 | : | Robert Mowrey of North Carolina |
| 2001 | : | Karyn Malinowski of New Jersey |
| 2002 | : | Jerry Walker of Indiana |
| 2003 | : | Diane Jones of New York |
| 2004 | : | Neil Shaw of Ohio |
| 2005 | : | David Petrie of Wisconsin |
| 2006 | : | Glen Eaton of Minnesota |
| 2007 | : | Jane Gilbert of New Jersey |
| 2008 | : | Eldon G. Reyer of New Mexico |
| 2009 | : | Sally Blount of Iowa |
| 2010 | : | Crystal Brumme-Kimball of Maryland |
| 2011 | : | Edith Stanger of Idaho |
| 2012 | : | Madelyn Millard of Kentucky |
| 2013 | : | Beverly Raymond of Maryland |
| 2014 | : | Paul Briney of Illinois |
| 2015 | : | Yvette Anderson-Rollins of Indiana |
The American Horse Council was founded in 1969.