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• Kimberly Brown // Oct 7, 2007 at 11:57 pm

  The fist INEED (Indiana Equine Economic Development) Summit attracted business leaders, decision makers and enthusiasts from across the state and speakers from across the nation. The message was clear: finding a balance between economic development and enabling equine heritage needs to be addressed now. The most immediate concern is finding a way to preserve open space, such as forests, pasture land, and agriculture during this time of active development and growth.

  As the “voice of the industry,” the Indiana Horse Council is making the right move by taking proactive measures to gather information and start to formulate an action plan that would represent the diverse needs of horsemen throughout the state.

  Here’s what I summarized as some key ACTION ITEMS, including some of my thoughts:

  Communication – Build “the voice” by uniting existing member lists, such as breed associations and riding clubs to build a grassroots network of horse owners, enthusiasts, farm owners, equine business leaders, and other related parties for the purpose of receiving and disseminating information efficiently and effectively. Gain support and buy-in by inviting association leaders to unite for a single cause. Stress the importance of gathering survey data and individual participation. Find a volunteer point-person for each region.

  Education – Start a campaign to promote the horse by (1) gathering info on the current issues, (2) try doing an 10 question online survey via the Indiana Horse Council’s website to ask people (keep it simple and have them include their county, disciplines, number of horses owned, and ask them to rank current issues, etc), (3) decide upon a definitive goal, (4) keep people informed of the issues, goals and progress via press releases and regular updates on the website.

  Preservation - Based on actual defendable data, like census, studies and surveys, develop a strategy for a top-down and bottom-up approach. Get policy makers involved and remember to “lead with the results” about why your cause is important to the state as a whole, for example. Empower individuals to work independently in their local area by providing them with a central knowledge and resource center like the Horse Council or by linking them with people that have successfully reached their conservation goals.

  As a final note, when considering when, how, and where to preserve the horse heritage in your area, remember to consider the support-businesses (tourism activities, professional services, equine health services, transportation, related businesses like tack shops, and farm related services such as equipment and suppliers) that are either already in place or ones that need to be added to enhance the economic impact of the horse in your area.

  I enjoyed the opportunity to speak about “horses as an economic factor in local development” and to participate in Indiana’s first equine economic development conference.

  -Kimberly Brown

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