The Missouri Equine Council wants to be to the state's horse owners what the Missouri cattlemen and pork associations are to their members. The council, formed in 1989 and made up of volunteers, is making progress, but board members recognize the uphill climb.

"It's difficult to join together all the different types of horse people, unlike the other species," said immediate past president Hattie Francis of Columbia. "But MEC is still an infant organization."

The versatility of horses tends to separate its owners. While scores of horse owners join their favorite breed associations, they also, and sometimes instead, pay membership to a specialty organization, such as the National Cutting Horse Association or National Barrel Horse Association.

Just like the beef and pork associations, MEC works on behalf of owners and producers at the state capital. The group campaigned hard to convince the Missouri legislature to pass the Missouri Equine Limited Liability Law in the mid-90s. This law says that persons who rent, board, trail ride or engage in any other equine activity are responsible for their own safety. Essentially, the law protects landowners if a person is injured while riding on that land.

"Those are the kinds of things we need to be doing as the Missouri Equine Council," Francis said about working for the limited liability law. MEC also led efforts that resulted in the passage of a bill that eliminated sales tax on equine sales.

MEC, as well as horse associations from other states, is a member of the American Horse Council, based in Washington D.C. The AHC lobbies on the national level on behalf of horse owners.

As for the Missouri Agricultural Statistics Service survey, it never would have come about without the backing (or rather the prodding) of the Missouri Equine Council. Funding was the initial problem, but the AHC offered a large chunk of the necessary dollars.

Yet it took cooperation through the whole process. "Without the support of Lowell Mohler and the Missouri Department of Agriculture, the survey wouldn't have become a reality," said Francis.