Ovation Riding’s Friday Standing Ovation: MFFH

This week’s honoree: Maryland Fund for Horses.

Presented by:

And the Standing Ovation goes to…

Each Friday Horse Nation teams up with Ovation Riding to spotlight an individual or organization that is doing good work in the horse world. This week we salute the Maryland Fund For Horses.

MFFH was founded in 2011 in response to output from the 2009 Maryland Horse Forum, which recommended taking a comprehensive look at the equine welfare in the state.

Its Mission:

·      Promote the health, safety and welfare of equines in Maryland;

·      Educate equine owners and care takers about issues affecting equine care and management;

·      Educate landowners where equines are kept about issues affecting farm management and stewardship of the land;

·      Promote collaboration within the equine industry for the benefit of equines in Maryland;

·      Improve the lives of Maryland’s equines by providing education and outreach to the public about responsible equine ownership, equine welfare issues and the value of equines to the State and to their own lives.

Lori Brown, a member of MFFH’s Board of Directors, explains, “The MFFH is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to equine welfare and education about responsible horse ownership. MFFH sponsors programs to educate people about responsible horse ownership, supports rescues all over Maryland, and even has held a gelding clinic in the past. We are only a few years old, but we have sponsored and developed some great educational and program activities, and I am confident that we do good work, and boy do donors get a lot of real effort for horses for their money.”

MFFH’s initiatives are expansive and diverse, ranging from a health care rebate program to its Responsible Horse Ownership evening webinar series (the next one, “Emergency and Disaster Preparedness: What Every Horse Owner Needs to Know, with DaVinci Equine’s Nicole Ehrentraut,” takes place Tuesday, October 28, 2014 from 7-8 p.m.) The Unwanted Horse Project, a grassroots group of nearly 100 volunteers from across the Maryland equine industry, has become a project of the Maryland Fund for Horses. The project was founded in 2010 to assess and address the problem of unwanted horses in the state.

Photo from a “Maryland is Good to Geld” clinic in 2012, via MFFH’s Facebook page.

Want to get involved?

Here a few ways to help:

• Donate to MFFH here.
• Become a MFFH volunteer.
• Donate to a Maryland Fund for Horses silent auction.
• Donate to the Maryland Fund For Horses Tack & Blanket Bank (retailers only, please).
• Volunteer at a Horse Rescue – click here to find a rescue.
• Join the Unwanted Horse Project.
• Join the Maryland Horse Council.

Also, MFFH is currently hosting a  “Show us how much you love horses!” t-shirt design contest. The winning design will appear on the official MFFH t-shirt for the next calendar year, and you’ll have a chance to win great prizes like…

First prize: Four tickets to the 2014 Washington International Horse Show in Washington, D.C., good for any day of the show, October 21-26. 2014.

Second prize: $100 gift card to Southern States.

Other prizes will be awarded for Honorable Mentions.

Entries will be accepted through midnight, October 8, 2014. A small panel of judges will narrow down the entries with the finalists posted for voting on Facebook, with winners announced on October 15. See rules for complete details.

We applaud the MFFH for the great work they do and encourage Horse Nation readers to visit their website and Facebook page to learn more.

Go Riding!

Many thanks thanks to Ovation Riding for their support of both Horse Nation and individuals and organizations that are doing good work in the horse world. If you know someone who deserves a Standing Ovation, we would love to recognize them in a future post. Email the name of the person or organization along with a message about the good work they do to [email protected]. Photos/videos are always welcome, and include a link to their website if applicable.