Equestrians urged to use caution during hunting season

Hi Friends, while this article came from a Chestertown, MD publication it is very applicable to all of us who spend time outdoors this time of year whether riding, hiking or even bird watching (I say this because we had a big, beautiful Bald Eagle sighted several times today on our farm!).  Please share this with friends and let's all work together to make this a safe season.

 

Posted: Thursday, October 2, 2014 6:00 am | Updated: 10:08 am, Thu Oct 2, 2014.                              

Equestrians urged to use caution during hunting season            

CHESTERTOWN — With the white tail deer hunting season open, the Maryland Farm Bureau and the Maryland Horse Council encourage their members, and the public, to be conscious of their surroundings and respectful of others.
  According to a news release, landowners, sportsmen, equestrians, farmers and others commonly spend more time outdoors during this time of year. Respecting landowners’ private property rights and preventing trespassing while hunting or riding will avoid possible negative interaction among participants.
 

“We encourage Maryland sportsmen to take full advantage of this year’s hunting season,” said Maryland Farm Bureau President Chuck Fry in a statement. “We also encourage the community to respect the rights of landowners and be considerate of other outdoor recreation while hunting.”
Maryland Horse Council President Jane Seigler said, “Maryland horse farmers, like all Maryland farmers, struggle with the effects of deer damage on our farms. We applaud all truly effective methods to control the deer population.”

She encourages Maryland riders to:
• Be informed. Learn the dates and details of the hunting seasons in the areas where you ride, so equestrians and hunters can avoid interfering with each other.
• Stay in touch with the landowners where you ride to find out if permission has been given to hunters so you can avoid interference, and so you can be the landowner’s eyes and ears for unauthorized use.
• Never ride on land unless you have the owner’s permission, and always stay off planted cropland.
Maryland sportsmen and equestrians have many common interests and continue to be good stewards on the land, the release states.
“We encourage all outdoor groups to respect private property and to always practice safe measures during hunting seasons,” Fry said.

Maryland Farm Buereau & Maryland Horse Council Urge Safe Hunting & Riding Practices

Farm Bureau and Horse Council Urge Safe Hunting and Riding Practices

The White Tail Deer hunting season will soon be underway. Maryland Farm Bureau and Maryland Horse Council leaders encourage their members and the public to be conscious of their surroundings and respectful of others during this traditional and recreational season. 
Landowners, sportsmen, equestrians, farmers, and others commonly spend more time outdoors during this time of year. Respecting landowners’ private property rights and preventing trespassing while hunting or riding will avoid possible negative interaction among participants. 

“Maryland farmers continue to face a growing problem of crop damage inflicted by wildlife, especially deer,” said Maryland Farm Bureau President Chuck Fry. “We encourage Maryland sportsmen to take full advantage of this year’s hunting season.  We also encourage the community to respect the rights of landowners and be considerate of other outdoor recreation while hunting.”
Maryland Horse Council President, Jane Seigler, said:
“Maryland horse farmers, like all Maryland farmers, struggle with the effects of deer damage on our farms. We applaud all truly effective methods to control the deer population. We encourage all Maryland equestrians to:

* Be informed - learn the dates and details of the hunting seasons in the areas where you ride, so equestrians and hunters can avoid interfering with each other;
* Stay in touch with the landowners where you ride, to find out if permission has been given to hunters so you can avoid interference, and so you can be the landowner’s eyes and ears for unauthorized use;
* NEVER ride on land unless you have the owner’s permission, and ALWAYS stay off planted cropland.”

Maryland sportsmen and equestrians have many common interests and continue to be good stewards on the land. “We encourage all outdoor groups to respect private property and to always practice safe measures during hunting seasons,” Fry said.

The mission of the Maryland Farm Bureau is to promote and protect Maryland agriculture and rural life. MFB is a private, non-profit membership organization that is financed by voluntary membership dues. Its strength comes from the active participation of over 37,000 member families that belong to the state’s 23 county Farm Bureaus.

Established in 1985, the Maryland Horse Council seeks to unify, inform, and represent Maryland’s diverse equestrian community. As a volunteer-based, non-profit, membership organization, financed by membership dues, donations and sponsorships, the Horse Council represents and serves over 28,000 people with 81,000 horses on 16,040 properties that comprise 587,000 acres of Maryland farmland. (2010 Maryland Horse Census)

Here is a link to the DNR Hunting Seasons Calendar:   http://www.dnr.maryland.gov/huntersguide/pdfs/Hunting_Seasons_Calendar.pdf

 

Maryland

Maryland horse farm, foundation square off over zoning for development

 

 

 

 

From The Washington Post

 

A Hanoverian horse grazes in the field at a farm owned by Betsy Smith, a pediatric HIV researcher, in New Market, Md., on Aug. 21. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

By Bill Turque August 28 at 6:42 PM

Betsy Smith, a pediatric HIV researcher, halters a horse at her farm in New Market, Md., on Aug. 21. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

The Eugene B. Casey Foundation is a mainstay of Washington-area philanthropy, awarding millions of dollars to recipients including the Washington National Opera, Suburban Hospital and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.

But horse farm owner Betsy Smith and her neighbors say the foundation has been anything but charitable in its approach to land that it owns in southeast Frederick County, just past the Montgomery County line.
The foundation received final approval last week from the Board of County Commissioners for a rezoning that will enable it to sell 634 acres to a developer for construction of more than 1,000 homes and townhomes in the New Market area. The foundation says it will use proceeds from the eventual sale to continue to fund its philanthropic work.
Opponents of the plans say such heavy residential construction will negatively impact the still largely rural area, especially the cleanliness of nearby Lake Linganore, a major water source. Critics also say the foundation has acted vindictively toward Smith, whose horse farm is surrounded by the Casey land, by proposing to cut off her access to the area’s main road and, until recently, refusing to commit to a buffer zone to shield the farm from the residential construction.
Smith’s attorney, Michelle Rosenfeld, says the foundation was trying to “put [Smith] out of business, so they can get the land.”

 

Casey officials say they harbor no ill will toward Smith and will work to accommodate all of the landowners adjacent to the foundation property while still exercising the foundation’s legal development rights.
The tension began building after Smith declined an offer from Casey to join in its application for rezoning, a collaboration that, Smith says, could have led to her 35-acre farm being sold along with the Casey land so that more houses could be built.

 

The foundation subsequently submitted road plans that would cut off Smith’s direct access to Route 75, the area’s main road.
Until the Board of County Commissioners intervened, Casey also refused to provide Smith’s property with an undeveloped buffer zone to shield the farm from residential construction — a commitment the foundation made earlier to other adjoining property owners.
A few weeks ago, a Casey representative came onto Smith’s property without permission and photographed runoff that contained horse manure. The foundation submitted the photos at a hearing to buttress arguments that Smith’s farm, which has 17 horses, two coon hounds and a cat — posed a greater threat to the Linganore watershed than the 1,000-plus home project.
Smith called the unauthorized entrance “creepy.”
“I think they were giving me the message that it was going to be very unpleasant to have a horse farm there in the future,” says Smith, a pediatric AIDS researcher at the National Institutes of Health who is also active in Cleanwater Linganore, a group trying to raise awareness of threats to the watershed posed by aggressive development.
“Absolutely not,” Casey’s chief financial officer, Donna Sheehan, says, dismissing the charges as baseless. Officials say the foundation had accessed Smith’s property in the past, without issue.
Robert Dalrymple, Casey’s attorney in the rezoning, says Smith’s decision not to partner with the foundation had no bearing on the actions that the foundation took.
“We just wanted to give her the chance. We were just trying to be good neighbors,” he says, calling Smith’s property “the hole in the doughnut.”
Smith and her late husband, a Johns Hopkins radiologist, outbid the foundation for the land in a 1990 auction. They were smitten with the old farm and, Smith says, only vaguely aware that the surrounding acreage could one day give way to subdivisions.

MDA Awards $1 Million for Innovative Manure Management Technologies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT:  Julie Oberg, 410-841-5888                                         Vanessa Orlando, 410-841-5889
MDA Awards $1 Million for Innovative Manure Management Technologies Demonstration Projects in Howard, Frederick and Worcester Counties Recognized POCOMOKE, MD (August 15, 2014) – The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) today awarded more than $1 million in grants for three animal waste management technology projects. MDA Secretary Buddy Hance, Maryland Energy Administration Director Abigail Ross Hopper, along with other state and local officials, joined together for a check presentation ceremony to Planet Found Energy Development and Green Mountain Technologies for implementation of their demonstration projects. The event was held at Millennium Farms in Worcester County. “By working to reach our sustainability goals, we’ll grow our renewable energy portfolio and reduce the amount of run-off going into our precious Bay. This program is a win-win for our State,” said Governor Martin O’Malley. “Investing in Maryland’s in-state renewable energy boosts our economy, ensures that we have abundant energy resources well into the future and creates more jobs and opportunity for more Marylanders.” The O’Malley/Brown Administration’s investment in innovation led to the revitalization of the Animal Waste Technology Fund. The Fund provides incentives to companies that demonstrate new technologies on farms and provide alternative strategies for managing animal manure. These technologies generate energy from animal manure, reduce on-farm waste streams, and repurpose manure by creating marketable fertilizer and other products and by-products. MDA plans to award a total of $2 million of the $2.5 million available in FY2014. Funds not awarded during FY2014 will be added to a new round of requests for proposals to demonstrate innovative manure management technologies, totaling $3 million in FY2015. “These projects will help farmers address challenges in managing manure under new nutrient management requirements,” said Secretary Hance. “Projects funded have the potential to increase energy independence, enhance animal waste management, improve water quality, and reduce greenhouse gases – all of which will result in advanced Chesapeake Bay restoration and help farms become sustainable.” Today, MDA announced the first two grant awardees:  Planet Found Energy Development (PFED) – $676,144.47 – uses an anaerobic digester linked to a nutrient recovery system to produce electricity (26 kWh plant producing an estimated 100,000 kW/yr) for parasitic load and will use net metering to send any excess electricity back to the grid. Excess heat may be used to offset propane costs for poultry house heating. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are to be partitioned into three separate fertilizer products for on-farm use or sale. The dry weight of the poultry litter is reduced by 50 percent and the fiber by-product has the potential to be re-used as poultry bedding. Millennium Farms, owned/operated by Jason and Kim Lambertson, is in Worcester County and has six poultry houses. Although pairing the two components is new, both have been proven as stand- alone systems. PFED broke ground on the anaerobic digester component of the project this spring and will use grant funds from the State to support the nutrient capture system. “Our team at Planet Found Energy Development is excited to work with the Maryland Department of Agriculture in finding alternative ways to utilize poultry manure,” said PFED Partner Jason Lambertson. “Our partnership the first step in helping the agricultural community use a current resource as renewable energy while reducing key nutrients that have a great impact on the future of the poultry industry in Maryland. We welcome this opportunity to be a part of a solution.” Green Mountain Technologies, Inc (GMT) – $388,310 – Although composting is not new, the in-vessel system is a closed system reducing variability of environmental factors impacting composting success. The vendor offers this as a turnkey operation and provides ongoing management support which reduces farm operator time, labor requirements and potential error. GMT proposed two individual projects for in-vessel composting:  The first is a small composter at a horse rescue facility in Howard County where nutrients and by-products will be reduced by 50 percent. GMT is in discussion to market this compost to vendors who sell planting medium for nursery production. The second project is larger and will be implemented on a dairy farm in Frederick County that also will process the offal from its turkey production and processing facility. The agricultural operation is owned and managed by Eugene Iager, who is exploring the use of the compost for dairy bedding and opportunities for marketing it. GMT operates out of Seattle, Wash., and they will use web-enabled controllers and probes to monitor temperatures and manage the composter remotely when not on site. “Green Mountain Technologies is honored to have two projects selected by MDA. We realize that the agricultural industry must be given waste management options that are not only environmentally sustainable but also financially sustainable,” said GMT Agricultural Sales Specialist Mollie Bogardus. “We believe in furthering the market channels for the value added products created through quality composting of the waste from dairies, equine facilities and poultry sites. These grants will provide Maryland farms examples of successful composting operations.” In January 2014, MDA issued a Request for Proposals for demonstration projects with proven and innovative technologies that manage agricultural manure and on-farm generated waste in a manner that improves its utility as a fertilizer, changes its form or function for alternative uses, or produces energy or other marketable products. The overall outcome of the technology will result in reduction of nitrogen and/or phosphorus movement to surface waters associated with animal manure produced on farms in Maryland. Maryland’s nutrient management regulations govern the amount, timing, and placement of crop nutrients—including manure and other organic nutrient sources—on agricultural land to prevent excess nutrients from impacting waterways. To help poultry and livestock producers comply with the regulations, Maryland is supporting and investing in alternative uses for manure such as fertilizer manufacturing, composting and manure-to-energy projects, and the development of new products that add value to improve farm viability. MDA received eight bids, which were reviewed by a six-member technical review subcommittee. The subcommittee represented diverse skill sets and backgrounds and its members were chosen from the 20-member Advisory Committee for the Animal Waste Technology Fund. Three of the recommended projects were approved by the Board of Public Works on Wednesday, August 13. An award for one additional project is expected to be made this fall, following Board of Public Works approval. Learn more about Maryland’s sustainable policies, practices and programs at green.maryland.gov and follow us @GreenMaryland. # # # EDITOR'S NOTE: PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

MHC's 8th Annual BBQ coming up! Order your tickets now...

Hi Friends, this BBQ looks like it will not only have exceptional food but also lots of fun entertainment.  Make plans now to join us! Please Join Us For The  MHC's 8th Annual BBQ Picnic! Saturday, September 13th 4:00 - 8:00 pm Hosted by: The Capitol Polo Club 14660 Hughes Road Poolesville, MD 20837 www.capitolpolo.com For tickets, please click HERE! Live music by Hot Buttered Nuggets | Live Polo |  A "Celebrity" Polo Match - featuring some familiar faces! | A Great Silent Auction | Authentic Argentine Asado BBQ  Bring the family...bring the barn! This year's gathering is hosted by the Capitol Polo Club and will showcase their 600-acre, top-class polo facility in the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve. Live music by Hot Buttered Nuggets will set a spirited tone, and live polo matches - including a "celebrity match" - will make this evening fun for all family members. There will also be a silent auction and raffle to raise funds for some of the Maryland Horse Council's ongoing projects. Ticket Prices: Members: $35/person - purchase as many as you want! Children (7-17): $15/person Children (6 & Under): FREE! Non-Members: $50/person*  (*includes 1 Individual MHC Membership good  through June 30th, 2015...a $25 savings!) New! Sponsor Ticket Packages: 5-ticket Package (includes small sponsor sign): $200 5-ticker Package Plus (includes banner space*): $250 10-ticket Package (includes small sponsor sign): $375 10-ticket Package Plus (includes banner space*): $425 *Sponsor to provide banner

Dressage in Frederick County! Another Article from the Frederick News Post...

JEFFERSON — Dressage, also called horse ballet, is known for its formality. But the Frederick Area Dressage Society is anything but formal.


FADS, as the group dubs itself, is in its second year of sponsoring horse shows in Frederick County. The difference, says founder Leslie Raulin, is that these shows offer horses and riders a casual outlet for dressage competition. Riders don't have to don fancy jackets and button-down shirts, and horses' manes don't need to be braided.


"This may be a first horse show for kids or a first show for green horses," Raulin said.
It could also be for adults who don't have the money or desire to compete on a more formal level, but want feedback from judges. Schedules are flexible, not requiring horse and rider to stay all day.
"Dressage means training," Raulin said. Dressage movements, rooted in military routines, can help a horse move better, and can help the rider focus on correct riding techniques. Western and English riders both benefit, Raulin said. Dressage forces horse and rider to use collected, controlled movements. Dressage training helps horses to use their muscles better and riders to learn to communicate with their horse using tiny, almost indiscernible movements.
Fees from the shows help local horse farms earn some extra money, and eight of this year's shows are raising money for local charities ranging from the Frederick County 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program to the Frederick Memorial Hospital Hurwitz Breast Cancer Fund. Since the group began last year, it has raised nearly $10,000 for charity. Other beneficiaries include the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Frederick County Pony Club.
It can be daunting for a horse farm to put on a dressage show, but FADS takes care of all the marketing, and the farms still earn money from fees. The organization's primary responsibility is marketing and scheduling regional shows that fit in with its casual philosophy.
"Simplicity's the big word," Raulin said. "It takes out all the red tape."
Raulin is a retired Air Force dentist who took lessons as a child, but didn't return to riding horses until she was 48. As an older rider, she didn't want to jump, so she began taking lessons and competing in dressage. She found she enjoyed dressage, but she didn't want to compete at a high level.
"The most I've ever done is a second-level schooling show," she said. Dressage levels begin at training level, then progress in difficulty from first to fourth level.
"It's fun," Raulin said. "It's a non-stuffy approach to dressage."
For an upcoming show benefiting breast cancer patients, she is encouraging riders and horses to go pink. The only clothing requirement is that it be safe and humane, and all riders must wear safety helmets and safe riding boots.

"Serving a purpose"
Riders who are still learning can go to a show and get some constructive criticism.
Raulin's trainer, Cheryl Loane, of Thurmont, started hosting informal shows as an opportunity for schooling, an equine term for training a horse or horse and rider in formal riding techniques. These shows were bound not by rules, but by fun.
"They were very popular," Loane said. "The purpose was to bring horses for schooling in a friendly, low-key atmosphere. It really is supposed to be an educational, fun experience."
Maryland and surrounding states offers plenty of opportunities for serious competition, but these shows filled a niche.
Raulin started the show series in the spring of 2013. "My trainer, Cheryl, suggested a general membership organization for casual dressage shows," she said.
Raulin has computer skills, and she set up the website frederickdressage.org, with instructions for riders and for farms that want to host shows.
"Never did we imagine more than 10-12 shows a year," she said. "This year, it's up to 32 shows. It's become much more popular than we expected for riders and horses. It's serving a purpose.
"We try to do flexible scheduling, so trainers and students can come in and not have to stay all day," Raulin added. At more formal shows, schedules often require riders and horses to remain at the show site for hours between classes.
The price is also affordable, Raulin said, compared to many more formal shows. Rates are set by each farm and are usually about $25 per ride. Although each farm runs its own show, the shows are advertised on the FADS website and through FADS emails.
"Some farms are getting more riders through FADS, and others are getting marketing assistance," Raulin said. Word of mouth and a Constant Contact email list has helped FADS shows grow.
FADS shows are popular, but riders don't have to navigate through the crowded world of formal dressage shows. A formal show might have 60 riders, but the biggest FADS show has been 30 riders.
"It's simple, casual, less costly, and it's fun," Raulin said. "We do this for fun. This can be a way for horse or rider to work through show nerves. We had a horse afraid to enter the arena. At a licensed show, he'd be eliminated. I walked up and talked to the horse and brought him in."
That horse will get over his fear of strange arenas much more easily after a positive experience, she added.

Dressage in this country "back in the day" was centered in the Mid-Atlantic area, and many Maryland equestrians competed in dressage, said Michele Wellman, owner of By Chance Farm in Libertytown, which has hosted several FADS shows. Today, the best dressage competitors have largely shifted to Florida, but there are still plenty of people who ride dressage.
"There are people who don't have any goals to compete," Wellman said. A formal show can cost a couple of hundred dollars. "For a rider on a budget, that's a lot of money," she said. "These shows are a great way for your typical adult amateur who rides a few days a week to show without being overwhelmed by the cost."

The Horse Industry Thrives in Frederick County! Kudos to Kim Stewart!!!

From the Frederick News Post

JEFFERSON — Kimberly Stewart has been taking care of horses since she was 12.
At 50, the veteran horsewoman has trained numerous national champions through the years and routinely takes about a half-dozen top horses and riders to A-rated shows throughout the country.
Frederick County is the ideal location for a horse business, said Stewart, who operates a horse and hay business on her 200-acre Glenwillow Farm in Jefferson. The county’s soil is rich in minerals, which generate healthy grasses that young horses thrive on, Stewart said.
“And I think Frederick County is pretty friendly to agriculture in general,” said Stewart, who moved to Jefferson 14 years ago from Montgomery County.
Stewart’s horse operation is one of many in the county.
According to the 2010 Maryland Equine Census, conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Frederick County has 7,850 horses worth $43.9 million and the third-largest number of horses of any county in Maryland (Baltimore County is No. 1, followed by Montgomery County).
Despite the impressive numbers, the horse business is almost an invisible industry, said Dale Clabaugh, a lifelong Frederick County resident and treasurer of the Maryland Horse Council.
Maryland has more horses per capita than any other state, Clabaugh said. Horses are the new cows, representing a huge segment of the agriculture industry, she said.
“Kentucky has more horses, but it is larger. We are more horse-dense,” Clabaugh said. “And the impact of the industry is so broad. You’re talking veterinarians, farriers, pet shops, providers of saddles and blankets, etc.”
The majority of horse owners use their animals for pleasure, Clabaugh said, adding that the animals have gone from being the beast of burden to the beast of pleasure.
“This huge animal just wants to be a part of you, and when you have that relationship, it’s just magical,” Clabaugh said.
Frederick County has it all when it comes to horses, said Ross Peddicord, Maryland Horse Industry Board executive director.
The county offers rodeos, Western riding, English riding, gaited horses, jousting, foxchasing, Thoroughbred breeding farms, top international and national competitors in a variety of horse sports, excellent competition venues at J Bar W Ranch and Loch Moy, and harness racing at The Great Frederick Fair, Peddicord said.
Frederick County also has three newly certified equine experience centers where the public can learn about horses, 79 licensed riding and boarding stables, and more than 50 miles of public access riding trails in five state and national parks.
The equine experience centers are Cedar Rowe Lusitano Equine Fitness Center in Rocky Ridge; Misty Peaks Farm in Smithsburg; and the Western Maryland Equine Education Center at New World Stables in Frederick.
Peddicord said Frederick County has one of the state’s largest equine feed manufacturers, Farmers Co-Op in Frederick. Paradise Stables near New Market is home to some of the state’s top gaited horses (Tennessee Walkers) as well as being a state-of-the-art boarding and lesson facility, and there is an active Frederick County Equine Alliance, made up of horse enthusiasts active in issues affecting the local industry.
“Frederick County, like the rest of Maryland, is a horse lover’s paradise,” Peddicord said.
The equine business can be risky and expensive, said Stewart, who buys, sells, trains and breeds horses.
Stewart’s most expensive horse sold two years ago for $850,000, but she has also sold horses for $1,000. Flying a horse to Arizona or California costs $3,500. The price of a horse depends on its show record and ability, the business owner said.
“If you put a lot of money into them, you can get a lot of money out of them, but it’s a risky business,” Stewart said. “If you get eight good horses out of 10, that’s a good percentage.”
The industry is labor-intensive, and her biggest challenge has been finding workers for the seven-day operation, Stewart said.
Stewart’s most recent accolade came from the Maryland Horse Industry Board, which selected Spellbound, described as one of the nation’s leading show ponies, for the May Touch of Class award, a program within the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
Stewart trains and houses Spellbound, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood pony owned and ridden by Bernadette Chungunco, 14, of Fairfax, Virginia.