PRESS RELEASE
April 17, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Michigan Horse Council Elects New Directors and Officers at 2022 Annual Meeting
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At the 2022 Michigan Horse Council Annual Meeting hosted at the MSU Pavilion on April 12th the organizational members voted to approve the following additions of board members which included Penny Wilson, Julie Vruggink, and Trevor Walton.

Additionally, the Michigan Horse Council Board of Directors voted to elect Julie Vruggink as Vice President for the upcoming year. For the upcoming year Inger Lenese will serve as President, Bruce Deur as President Elect, and Julie Vruggink at Vice President.

The offices of Secretary and Treasurer had no nominations, so the Council Board of Directors motioned to appoint Director and Communication Chair, Sasha Glover, to act as interim Secretary until the May 2022 meeting. Term-limited Treasurer, Sue Armstrong, will hold the position until the May 2022 meeting. Nominations for the offices of Secretary and Treasurer will be accepted/voted upon May 3, 2022, during the Board Member Meeting (7:00pm via Zoom).

The mission of the Michigan Horse Council is to provide individuals and organizations with a central authority that will support, encourage, supplement, and coordinate the efforts of those presently engaged in the constructive conservation, development, and promotion of the horse industry and horse community in the state of Michigan along with educate and inform individuals and organizations through all available media, educational programs, cooperation, and advocate the conservation and promotion of the horse industry and community.

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More Information to Come Available Soon! 

This is a special event challenge for the Michigan Horse Council’s eligible members. All GPS recorded ride tracks ridden and posted to your Top Trail account from April 15 – August 31 will be included on the challenge leaderboard. How far will you ride this summer? Join the special Facebook group “The Michigan Horse Council’s Statewide Trail Ride Challenge” for announcements, motivation, encouragement, and assistance.
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Group Rules:

• Top Trail Challenge Rules (https://www.toptrailhorse.com/top-trail/) apply plus:
• Must be an individual or family member of the Michigan Horse Council (affiliate group members status not eligible) Memberships can be purchased here: https://www.michiganhorsecouncil.com/membership-application.html
• Any trail ride counts for miles whether private or public trails. Arena riding does not.
• Miles/hours ridden between April 15 and August 31  will count towards the Challenge
• Must join the challenge group no later than July 1
• At the conclusion of the challenge, all ride tracks posted will be audited. Tracks posted that are disqualified will result in the loss of mileage and may affect the final results.

If you are already a Top Trail member:

1. Go to www.toptrailhorse.com
2. Log in
3. Go to the MHC page on Top Trail
   https://www.toptrailhorse.com/groups/michigan-horse-council/
4. Click the “Join Group” button
5. That’s it! They’re in!

 
If you are NOT already a Top Trail member, you will need to join:

1. Go to www.toptrailhorse.com
2. Upper right corner, click the purple “Sign Up” button
3. Fill in the profile information and create their account
4. Once logged in, go to https://www.toptrailhorse.com/memberships/
5. Locate the “Michigan Horse Council” membership item and click “Select”
6. Follow the checkout process
7. They will automatically be added to the MHC group on Top Trail