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Horsemen are, generally speaking, politically naive at

best. Most of us are simply politically oblivious--our

heads are just elsewhere.

Horsemen need to:

1. Use such trade associations/lobbying groups

as already exist to further their interests.

This means joining:

- Your state horse council if it is politically active.

(If it is just a horse show club like the Massachusetts

Horseman's Council is, don't waste your time.)

- The American Horse Council, which is the national

lobbying organization for horse people.

- Your county/state Farm Bureau. The Farm Bureaus have

been fighting this kind of thing for decades. Unfortunately,

the ruling powers in most farm bureaus don't think of

horses as "serious agriculture," and so one often has

to fight for recognition even within Farm Bureau.

2. Where no local or state lobbying organization exists

to further horseman's interests, create and register a

Political Action Committee (PAC) explicitly for horsemen.

This is how the whole world works: PACs who fundraise

and give money to political candidates, and who lobby

for legislation to defend themselves against just

exactly this type of "unsanitary" ordinance. 501(c)(3)

non-profits have their place, but don't nothing beat

a good plain old PAC for getting what you want from

a politician.

Incidentally, I've also come to the conclusion that it

is a waste of time to try to convince an existing horse

club whose organization is based around holding recreational/

social events to change its spots and go either 501(c)(3)

or full-fledged PAC. Let them continue with their shows

and their trail rides...create a new organization whose

purpose is specifically to address the horsemen's political

needs.

3. If you do hire a lawyer, hire one who is familiar

with federal and state farm protection legislation. It

may very well be that someone else has already fought

and won this battle, but only an attorney who specializes

in that area of the law may be aware the legal precedent.

Linda B. Merims