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Our Mission

Equine Land conservation Resource (ELCR) equips communities with the educational and advocacy resources, tools, and support needed to protect and conserve the land and places where horses live, work, and inspire.

 

Our Vision

We envision a future where protected equine lands nurture vibrant communities and preserve the enduring bond between horses and people for generations to come.

 

Why It Matters

Horses bring lasting value to communities across the country. They contribute to local economies, support agriculture and open space, provide opportunities for recreation and connection with nature, and enrich the lives of people of all ages. Equine activities bring people together, strengthen community connections, and help preserve an important part of America’s cultural heritage.

But horses cannot provide these benefits without the land needed to support them. Horses need land for grazing and forage, horse owners need space for keeping and caring for horses, riding and recreation. Agricultural and open spaces sustain equine communities. With approximately 7 million horses in the United States requiring an estimated 39 million acres to meet their basic feed, forage, and acreage needs, protecting this land is essential to the future of horses and the communities they benefit.

Horse lands also provide benefits beyond horses. Healthy pastures can help filter water, actively grazed fields can reduce wildfire fuel, and pasture grasses capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Preserving horse lands can therefore contribute to environmental health, open space, and community resilience.

Yet the land horses depend on is increasingly under pressure. Every day, approximately 2,000 acres of agricultural land are lost to development and other uses. The majority of the U.S. equestrian community is located in and near urban and suburban areas where development pressures are greatest. Poorly planned growth, changing land uses, zoning changes, competing demands for land, and the growing presence of commercial development, including AI data centers, are creating new challenges for horse communities.

As more people move into traditionally equine-centered areas without a connection to horses or an understanding of equine land needs, conflicts over land use can increase. These challenges vary from community to community, but the underlying issue is the same: without adequate land, horses cannot continue to contribute to the communities, economies, environment, and quality of life they enrich.

 

Our Work

ELCR provides the information, resources, tools, and expertise communities need to protect land for horses. Through education, a nationwide network, and direct technical assistance, ELCR helps individuals, organizations, and communities understand the challenges they face, develop effective strategies, and take action to protect the land horses depend on.

  • Tools, templates, and resources for advocacy
  • A vibrant, engaged nationwide network of people, willing and able to assist in protecting land
  • Free access to our Educational Resource Library at elcr.org.
  • Webinars with partner organizations attended by thousands of participants on relevant conservation topics
  • Best practice guidelines for building productive relationships with private landowners and public land stakeholders and creating support for equine access and equine friendly zoning strategies.
  • One-on-one counseling and technical assistance for local organizations and individuals working to protect land for horses.

Our Impact

As the nation’s leading organization dedicated to protecting land for horses and horse-related activities, ELCR’s impact extends far beyond individual conservation projects. ELCR strengthens communities through education, assistance, resources and network access that help preserve equestrian access nationwide and keeps America’s equine heritage alive.

By equipping advocates, organizations, and decision-makers with proven strategies and expert guidance, through our one-to-one counseling and technical assistance program, ELCR helps ensure that horses and riders continue to have access to the land that horses, horse sports, and the equine-driven economy need to thrive. Over the past five years, ELCR staff have responded to 197 requests for assistance across 20 states.

Some examples of our technical assistance efforts include:

  • Working with a group of Missouri farm owners to prevent the shut-down of 23 parks in St. Louis County.
  • Assisting equestrians, conservationists and landowners in northeast Napa County, California to keep 61,000 acres of public land open to trail riders.
  • Successfully leading Clark County, Kentucky equestrians in a comprehensive planning process to challenge a housing development project in a horse farm area of the county.
  • Advancing the conservation of 900 acres for trail riding in Kentucky by facilitating relationships with the landowners and National Park Service RTCA Program and the Bluegrass Conservancy.
  • Assisting a New York land trust in balancing the needs of equestrians and other recreational user groups on newly acquired conserved land while ensuring continued access for equestrians.
  • Working with Marion County, FL, residents to address ongoing rezoning that threatened the established Marion County Farmland Preservation Area (FPA).
  • Helping residents in a South Florida community explore conservation tools to protect horse lands from proposed changes to zoning codes.

 

Our Values

We Steward Land as
Living Cultural Heritage 

We protect equine lands not just as open space, but as vital equine cultural heritage–preserving the bond among horses, people, and nature while sustaining rural traditions, economies, and lifelong access.

We Collaborate for Collective Impact 

We build strategic alliances across conservation, planning, and equine sectors, recognizing that systemic land loss demands shared solutions, cross sector innovation, and unified action.

We Deliver with Integrity, Innovation, and Service

We deliver trusted expertise with clarity and rigor, evolving our approach with purpose, investing boldly where outcomes matter most, and serving equine communities today and for generations to come.

We Champion Broad Access and Community Engagement 

We strive to ensure that equestrian land use serves the full spectrum of community needs, enhancing safe access and encouraging broader participation in advocacy, planning, and policy decisions.

We Equip Communities through Education and Tools 

We equip stakeholders with the knowledge, data, and strategies they need to protect land, influence policy, and advocate confidently for equine access and preservation.

 

Ways to Support ELCR

 

Learn more about what ELCR works toward every day here.

Read our 2026-2028 Strategic Plan here.