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ELCR Founders

ELCR Founders Anson W.H. Taylor Jr., Georgiana Hubbard McCabe, Richard Jorgensen and Melanie Heacock.

The Anson W.H. Taylor Jr. Award for Leadership in Equine Land Conservation was established by the ELCR Board of Directors to recognize individuals and organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to preserving land for equine use through their extraordinary generosity of time, effort, and expertise.  The recipient(s) should reflect the characteristics that Anson demonstrated through his leadership in equine land conservation.

The late Anson W.H. Taylor Jr. (July 2, 1929 –March 31 2006) was a preservationist, land conservator, family man, fox hunter and equestrian that contributed much to his community and particularly to the Radnor (PA) Hunt Club and the United States Pony Club where he served as a long term board member. Mr. Taylor was passionate about land conservation for equine use and was instrumental in protecting land in his local community. When the USPC identified that “loss of open land for equestrian use was the single greatest threat to the future of the entire horse industry,” Anson joined with friends who shared his vision to establish ELCR, a non-profit educational organization to focus on making loss of land for equine use a national issue.

Previous Anson W. Taylor Jr. Award Recipients – The following is a summary of the past award recipients and a short description of their notable achievements.

Denny Emerson (1999) A three-day event rider who resides in Vermont and North Carolina, Denny first sounded the alarm through a column in the Chronicle of the Horse.

Ann Lange (2002) A trail rider, Back Country Horsemen of America member and trail access advocate from California, Ann was recognized for her tireless work on trail access issues.

U.S. Pony Clubs (2007) USPC, headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, instituted the first known equine land conservation standards for their youth members in their ratings system.

Eve Prime Fout (2008) An avid foxhunter and ardent conservationist in the Piedmont Hunt Country, Eve was awarded the Anson W. Taylor Jr. Award posthumously for her equine land conservation work in Virginia.

Robert Clay (2010) A thoroughbred breeder, founder of Bluegrass Tomorrow, and the Bluegrass Conservancy, Robert  protected his beautiful bluegrass farm Three Chimneys Farm with a Purchase of Development Rights and a conservation easement.

Marjorie V. Kittredge (2011) Marjorie was the founder of Windrush Therapeutic Equitation, a leading therapeutic riding program, and the owner of Windrush Farm (Massachusetts) which was conserved with the help of a number of towns and organizations was recognized posthumously.

Caledonia Conservancy (2012) The Caledonia Conservancy was recognized for its strength in equine land and trail conservation, understanding of and activity in shared use recreational trails, positive organizational development and recent accreditation from the Land Trust Alliance.

Russell Martin (2013) Russell has worked extensively with the Show Me-Missouri Back Country Horsemen on trail issues throughout Missouri.

Mr. and Mrs. C. Martin Wood III (2016) Martin and Daphne both have extraordinary accomplishments in conservation, and this award specifically recognizes their passion for foxhunting, associated land conservation, and providing access to this equine activity.

Ken Haddad – ELCR President, Tony Leahy – MFHA President, Leslie Crosby – MFHA 1st Vice President, Penny Denegre -MFHA 2nd Vice President, David Twiggs – MFHA Executive Director.

 

Masters of Foxhounds Association (2018) The MFHA, established in 1907, is comprised of 151 hunts and over 6,000 members in 43 states and 3 Canadian provinces. Conservation and the preservation of farm and open land and access to public lands has always been a priority for the organization as fox hunting is an equestrian field sport that requires large amounts of contiguous open space.

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Jacqueline B. Mars, Mr. Glenn Epstein and Mr. Ken Haddad (ELCR President)

Fleming Farm Project Donors of The Great Meadow Foundation (2019)

Mrs. Jacqueline B. Mars accepted the prestigious Anson W. Taylor, Jr. Award on behalf of the 48 members of this generous group of donors. The donors were largely responsible for funding the effort to double the size of Great Meadow, build a world class arena on the new property, and bring the first FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ ever held in America to Great Meadow.