12/06/2007 à 08:00 · Tennessee Horse Council temporarily closed
The Murfreesboro-based coalition with a mission to unify and educate the Tennessee equine industry has temporarily shut its doors, said its past president.
Mike Moran said the Tennessee Horse Council, which had hosted the Volunteer Horse Fair at MTSU for 17 years, will be back. He said the council had ran out of money and was lacking in active members.
“We have ceased operations temporarily,” he stressed. “We are totally restructuring the Horse Council.
We will be back, but it will be in a different form.”
The Tennessee Horse Council is a volunteer, non-profit organization representing all breeds and equine disciplines. The council is affiliated with the American Horse Council, the industry’s national lobbying arm in Washington D.C.
Tennessee has more than 210,000 head of horses, donkeys and mules, according to the 2004 Tennessee Equine Survey. The state ranked No. 2 in the number of equine on farms in the U.S., based on the 2002 Census of Agriculture.
According to the council’s Web site, the Tennessee Horse Council serves its members by taking a protective role in the future of the equine industry by keeping horse people informed on issues and events; promoting the horse industry and horse-related activities to the public; hosting seminars and clinics at such events as the Volunteer Horse Fair; and working with government officials and lobbies on issues that affect the horse industry.
Declining interest and market prices for quarter horses are affecting the horse industry, Moran, of the Rockvale area, said.
“It is a tough time for the horse industry,” he said.
Moran, a land surveyor and planner, is an avid trail rider and owner of six horses.
Fewer people are coming to horse shows due to other highly publicized shows and other competition for consumers’ entertainment dollar.
“The economy and the horse industry is down as far as marketing,” Moran said. “I am a prime example.”
For more than a year, Moran has been unsuccessful in selling a top bloodline horse.
The Volunteer Horse Fair had been held in Murfreesboro since it started about 17 years ago.
Moran said the fair was held in Franklin in March this year in an attempt to attract more vendors, participants and spectators. He said other events held around the same time at MTSU’s Miller Coliseum affected attendance and vendor support.
“It was a smart move,” Moran said, “but it wasn’t enough to save it. It still wasn’t enough.”
The status of a 2008 horse fair is unknown.
The Horse Council’s 150 members are being sent letters now notifying them of the closure of the West College Street office and planned restructuring.
Membership numbers had dwindled down from numbers as high as 500.
Moran said he doesn’t know how the Horse Council would be restructured.
The Horse Council had a board of officers and representatives from each county.
Moran said it was the board voted to cease operations after he notified them that he would be stepping down as board president due to other commitments.
“We are still viable,” he said. “It is still an organization.”
Moran hopes the restructuring could occur over the summer allowing the organization to reform this fall.
On the Web:
www.tnhorsecouncil.com
By ERIN EDGEMON
|
