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Maryland Department of Agriculture

Maryland Horse Forum

About the Maryland Horse Forum

The Maryland Horse Forum serves as a​ day, every five years, to hear from the entire Maryland Horse Industry. 

The Horse Board invited you to share your thoughts and solutions to current industry concerns:

  • What are we doing right? 
  • What could we be doing better? 
  • Where do you want to see the Horse Industry go in the next 5 years?​
  • Now we get to work!

2024 Maryland Horse Forum: Unbridling potential

Final report

ANNAPOLIS, MD.—Organizers from the Maryland Horse Industry Board and the University of Maryland Equine Sciences Program have released a Final Report from the day long  2024 Maryland Horse Forum, held August 8 at McDonogh School in Owings Mills. The Forum was attended by nearly 300 horse enthusiasts and has been held continuously every five years since 2004.

The 33-page report, authored and compiled by Forum Co -Chairs Dr. Amy Burk, Anne Litz and Jennifer Reynolds, lists concerns, recommendations and action items from the Forum’s three main tracks and 12 listening sessions. Each session was hosted by skilled moderators who compiled hundreds of comments from participants in the areas of Industry Participation, Promotion and Education; Horse Keeping and Business Sustainability; and Land Use, Legislation and Liability issues.

“The action items outlined in the Report provide a comprehensive strategy to enhance involvement, maintain and grow our horse businesses and secure support for the equine industry,’ said Dr. Amy Burk, Professor and Coordinator for the Equine Studies Program in the Animal and Avian Sciences Department at the University of Maryland and Vice Chair of the Maryland Horse Industry Board, a program in the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

The Rural Maryland Council and 18 other industry partners and organizations sponsored the Forum. The report includes an Executive Summary and a number of photographs from the day’s events.

Read the official report of the 2024 Maryland Horse Forum - PDF - 14.76 MB

Major concerns expressed at the Forum included workforce shortages; workforce enhancement; optimizing care and management of horses; enhancing horse venues; and protecting open space for equine farms and activities.

“The goal of these Forums is to take stock of where we are, address issues and challenges, help insure the long term success of Maryland’s horse industry, broaden its impact and  help propel its continued growth,” said Kevin Atticks, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Agriculture.

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