ADAMS COUNTY —Under the showroom floor full of expensive horse trailers and rows of equine art displays, horse owners and horse enthusiasts from across the state hunkered down on bleachers in front of horse trainers and longtime horse professionals leading discussions on how to own and care for horses.
A woman on the risers shouted to the young trainer leading the discussion: “Is there an exercise I can do to help get my horse be less skittish when he first comes out of the stable? He’s just very scared and nervous at first, and I don’t know how to get him comfortable.”
The audience turned back to the trainer, who said the woman’s shy horse needed an emotional warm up, before proceeding to demonstrate the technique in one of several small exhibits located in every available horse ring in the National Western Complex at the annual Rocky Mountain Horse Expo.
The expo was started in the 1990s by the , a Brighton-based member organization that has been advocating for and educating horse owners, breeders, trainers and anyone and everyone involved with horses in any capacity in Colorado since 1972.
“We are the voice of the horse industry,” said Bill Scebbi, executive director and CEO of the horse council. “We’ve passed bills dealing with trails, worker compensation, liability, the sale of geldings, sales taxes, stable and horse classifications and so much more. Everybody in the horse industry is served by our community, whether they’re members or not.”
In addition to more than 40 years of working on legislative matters effecting horse owners and horse professionals, the council has been involved in a number of projects like the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo to unite horse owners and inform curious urbanites about the importance of the equine industry.
“The Rocky Mountain Horse Expo is our best outreach to horse owners and a growing urban community which is familiar with horses, but might never be able to own them,” said Dennis Kuehl, a Belgian draft horse breeder, member of the horse council and its former president.
Another horse-council sponsored activity is the Heritage Ride at the Greenland Open Space in Douglas County this June.
Scebbi is also on the Adams County Fair Board and is working to create a “many horse festival” this year. He describes it as typical fair games, shows and activities, but with horses.
“Most of our fairs in the state have become very urban,” Scebbi said. “I want to reintroduce the culture of horses into this fair and other fairs by creating family-centric, noncompetitive games and events.”
Today, the industry is divided. Of more than 155,000 horse owners and employees in Colorado, the council has fewer than 1,000 members. Members of the council are get $1 million in liability insurance for joining. Annual fees are $50.
“The horse is very important to the agriculture tourism industry, which includes trail rides, people rides and farm/ranch experiences,” Kuehl said. “Then consider all the show, rodeo and racing activities this state enjoys. It is an industry that continues to grow with our population. CHC is the only organization that represents all of these equine activities.”
Data collected by the group in 2006 identified the horse-specific industry generated $1.6 billion. That data broke down to things like $94 million from racing, $587 million from showing, and $607 million from recreation.
“When things come up in the legislature — anything from property zoning to water rights to horse classification as livestock, we make sure that our interests are represented,” said Jerry Martinez, a Colorado horse owner who also serves on the board of directors for the Colorado Horse Development Authority.
“Sometimes introduced bills are just ridiculous things that people who are not agriculturally savvy suggest,” Martinez said. “But the horse industry in Colorado is second only to tourism in contributing to the economy. We remind lawmakers of that so that we can work for the good of horse owners.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or @Mmitchelldp
