The Michigan Horse Council has three board positions open for 2019. The board positions are 3-year positions, which can be held for up to two terms. Some responsibilities of the board members include:

• Implementing policies and procedures
• Implementing standing rules
• Creating and appointing committees
• Electing officers
• Reviewing annual reports
• Managing the ongoing business of the Horse Council
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For a full list of board member responsibilities visit the Michigan Horse Council website at: Michigan Horse Council By-laws.

For more information on the Michigan Horse Council board positions, to nominate yourself or someone else, please contact Inger Lanese at 517-974-9664 or Marci Charest at info.michiganhorsecouncil@gmail.comPost navigation

Image source: Wikimedia Commons/prburley CC BY-SA 2.0

The MSU Rodeo Club has recently pledged a donation of $100,000 towards expansion of  the MSU Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education.  The expansion, when completed, will provide additional covered arena space. Members recognized its importance to the Michigan horse and livestock community.

The MSU Pavilion opened in December of 1996 and hosts dozens of shows and events for horses, cattle, and other animals throughout the year. In addition, the Pavilion hosts community events such as Autumnfest, the RV Show, and the Annual Home and Garden Show – events which draw people from all over the state of Michigan and beyond.

Though the main arena is a spacious 114’ x 214’, there has been a long-recognized need for expansion to cover the outdoor arena, to the east of the Pavilion.

Whether too hot, too cold, or too wet, the use of the outdoor arena has been contingent upon the weather. Providing an additional enclosed area would ensure that the space could be used for horse shows, a location to warm up horses during the annual Spartan Stampede Rodeo, for more vendor space during the Michigan Horse Expo, or as a location to house more horses during the Michigan Great Lakes International Draft Horse Show and Pull. It would also allow other events to expand and new ones to come into the mid-Michigan area.

While the MSU Rodeo Club contribution is significant, the cost of potential expansion is projected to approach $3.0 million. Thanks, in part, to the MSU Rodeo Club’s commitment, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) has started the early stages of fundraising and gathering support for the project.

Getting this project completed will take the support of our agriculture community. Whether through large corporate donations or smaller gifts from individuals or families that appreciate having such a valuable resource available, this project will have a lasting legacy in our great state of Michigan. We hope you will join us in this exciting project!

If your company or group is interested in supporting this project, please contact George Smith, Ph.D., Associate Dean of CANR, and Assistant Director of MSU AgBioResearch at smithge7@msu.edu.