The American Horse Council (AHC) is a trade organization in Washington, DC representing the horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

 industry. It lobbies before Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 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;
• farrier
  Farrier
  A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves...
  
  s;
• veterinarian
  Veterinarian
  A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
  
  s;
• horse owners;
• rodeo
  Rodeo
  Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
  
  s,
• 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:

• Richard Woolam of Connecticut
• Glenn T. Petty of North Carolina
• the Indiana Horse Council
• Bobbi Lipka of New York
• Lt. Col. James Marsh of New Jersey
• Ruby Holmquist of Illinois
• Jim Real of California
• Connie Diedrichs-Kimbrel of Colorado
• Valerie Cole of New Mexico
• Lisa Derby Oden of New Hampshire
• Robert Mowrey of North Carolina
• Karyn Malinowski of New Jersey
• Jerry Walker of Indiana
• Diane Jones of New York
• Neil Shaw of Ohio
• David Petrie of Wisconsin
• Glen Eaton of Minnesota
• Jane Gilbert of New Jersey
• Eldon G. Reyer of New Mexico
• Sally Blount of Iowa
• Crystal Kimball of Maryland

The American Horse Council was founded in 1969.

External links

AHC website

State Horse Councils Advisory Committee website