Effective Advocacy for Equestrian Land Access

By Denise Y. O’Meara for Equine Land Conservation Resource

Advocacy is the act of publicly speaking, writing, or recommending on behalf of or in support of an idea, action, cause, policy, or proposal. It can also be specifically helping someone to achieve their needs related to their rights. Let’s talk about advocating for what your equestrian community needs and how to do it. Equestrian land access and access to facilities and trails is a cause for any horse person to embrace and advocate for, and there and advocacy organizations connected to this cause you can get involved with.

Some issues can pop up in your local equestrian community that will require a greater effort on your part, especially if you are about to lose equine land access in some form. You will need information. You will need the support of fellow equestrians, and that will most likely come from an organization that already has their antennae up (or their ears pricked) about this issue. But don’t expect others to do everything. Go ahead and join, attend their functions and fundraisers, and/or participate in planned public input meetings or demonstrations.

What to do if there is no existing organization in your area? Form your own.

When things in your community are not working for the benefit of the horses, people, or activities that you care about, it’s time to take the bull by the horns, or the tiger by the tail. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Remember that advocacy is not a quick fix, or a Band-Aid solution. It is a long-term commitment. Once you achieve equine access, your access needs to be protected to keep it.

Tips for Effective Advocacy for Equestrian Land Access

Step 1: Learning

Below are some ways you and your fellow club/center members can learn more about your equestrian community and the issues affecting it.

• Find out what benefits that horses bring to your community and region.
• Get to know what issues affect your cause. You’ll want to check local media, publications, and with planning offices, and research documents, such as zoning regulations (ordinances) and comprehensive plans.
• Realize that issues may stand alone, such as manure on trails. Others may be offshoots of other local issues, such as a lack of trails for everyone to use.
• Explore the policies and regulations that local public land managers are required to follow.
• Find the basic information available in your community about land stewardship and best management practices for soil and water protection.
• Seek out the language of other laws and regulations regarding land use and recreation.
• Find out who your community’s decision-makers are and how local ordinances and regulations are created.
• Find out what current re-zoning, development, and other projects are going through the zoning or development review process, and how you can provide input. This is where an informed organization can play a big role and provide support or leadership.
• Every organization should be prepared to deal with local issues and should have a committee or other component that can work in advocacy.

Step 2: Listening

Listening is an important skill for any equestrian. Here are ways to become a better listener on the issues.

• Discover who the stakeholders are in your cause, on both sides of an issue. They might include other equine groups, elected/appointed officials, land and nature conservation groups, other recreationists (who may also be trail users), private landowners, public land managers, parks and recreation departments and other government agencies, locals who are enthusiastic (or not!) about horse activities, and those who design, develop, and sell land.
• Get an idea of the economic impact and other benefits that horses provide in your community.
• Learn which of the user and advocacy groups in your community or region would be good to collaborate with and which have issues with your cause.

Step 3: Talk and Create Relationships

Relationship building is important for Pony Clubs and Riding Centers, as well as other equestrians.

• Use the information you have found about the impacts and benefits of horses and any specific statistics that may have been reported as talking points with both decision-makers and others interested in your cause.
• Learn how to communicate with different user groups and agencies, using facts and statistics about recreational riding and the horse industry from your research.
  • Work with groups to form coalitions.
  • Create communication options between everyone working toward the same outcome. Allow others to state their case. Be cognizant that all user needs should be addressed, not just your own.
• Repeat.

What Organizations Do

Most of us have been a member of an organization of some sort at one time, so we know what they are about. Let’s just say that organizations are groups of people who come together for a particular purpose with these intentions:

• Understanding an overall purpose for forming the organization–its mission;
• Working within the group to identify the goals and objectives (actions) that the organization’s members might utilize to achieve the goals;
• Communicating with outside entities (individuals, agencies, etc.) to give and receive information and input;
• Creating a strategic plan, which is a plan of action, to carry out their goals and fundraising actions;
• Implementing the fundraising plan; and,
• Implementing their projected plan. Advocacy organizations are usually agents of change, or at least they attempt to change the way things are in an area of interest or a community. It takes a lot of work and commitment for the long haul.

Equine advocacy organizations are highly varied, depending on what they are trying to accomplish. For some groups, such as local trail organizations or clubs, the goals might be centered around the social aspect of horses, including scheduled trail rides and announcing basic trail behaviors that must be followed to: a) Be a member of the ‘club,’ and b) Ride on the trail system overseen by the club.

Other advocacy organizations might be more concerned with adding or maintaining equestrian trails and facilities on the land in their local area. In this case, the horse community needs to participate at an active level in local planning and zoning and monitoring or advocating for horse-friendly legislation. In more imminent circumstances, an equine-based advocacy group might be formed to spur major changes regarding land use, zoning for horses, and/or the inclusion of horse facilities in comprehensive plans and on public land.

At a more in-depth level of advocacy, an individual or group might be doing legislative research and hire or perform lobbying to ensure that local, state, and federal regulations are protective of and favorable to the equine and overall local communities, and also the horse industry.

Get Involved as an Advocate for Equestrian Land Access

Just as there are many issues that arise to threaten the equestrian way of life and access to equine land, facilities, and trails, there are just as many opportunities to partner with local and state-level government agencies, conservancies, land trusts, and other organizations to resolve land and trail issues locally. It’s up to local equine community members to take the steps required to advocate and protect the places and spaces that serve the need for equestrian activities and horse-keeping.

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About the Equine Land Conservation Resource (ELCR): The only national not-for-profit organization advancing the conservation of land for horse-related activity, ELCR serves as a resource and clearinghouse for land and horse owners on issues related to equine land conservation, land use planning, land stewardship/best management practices, trails, liability, and equine economic development. Visit www. elcr.org or call (859) 455-8383.

Originally published by the Equine Land Conservation Resource here.

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This article on Effective Advocacy for Equestrian Land Access was originally published in the 2023 Bonus Digital issue of Discover USPC magazine. Read more content from that issue.

Resources

• Learn more about the Brookfield Land Conservation Award and more about the 2024 winner.
• Log in to your Pony Club profile and then click the link for more Land Conservation resources.