The 45th annual meeting of the American Horse Council took place in Washington, DC, in late June. It drew nearly 200 attendees, including industry leaders from 50 organizations, members of Congress and staff, and federal regulatory agency staff.

"We had our best attendance in quite a few years," said AHC President Jay Hickey. "We think that is because of the importance of the issues facing all segments of the horse industry before Congress and the federal agencies. We also think the topic of this year's national issues forum, 'Where Have All the Horses Gone,' attracted great interest."

The first day of the AHC's annual meeting is an opportunity for all of the AHC's advisory committees to meet face-to-face and discuss federal issues affecting all segments of the horse industry. Those include the animal welfare committee, health and regulatory, horse show, racing, and recreation committees. The AHC's Coalition of State Horse Councils also meets, as does the Unwanted Horse Coalition.

Probably the most-discussed legislation was the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act (PAST Act), which was before the AHC's Animal Welfare and Horse Show committees but brought up at several others too, Hickey said