The Equine Land Conservation Resource named the Masters Of Foxhounds Association as the recipient of the Anson W. Taylor Jr. Award for Leadership in Equine Land Conservation.

The ELCR established the award to honor the late Anson W.H. Taylor Jr., who dedicated his life to preservation and foxhunting. Recipients of the award are recognized for their outstanding contributions to preserving land for equine use.

“It’s a huge honor, and we’re delighted,” said Tony Leahy, president of the MFHA. “There’s so much interconnections between the ELCR and the MFHA. I think we’re almost married to each other in terms of land conservation and having space for horse sports in general. It’s a real honor to receive it, and there’s so much common ground between the two organizations, and we look forward to working with them for years to come.”

Since its inception in 1907, the MFHA has made conservation and preservation a priority as foxhunting requires large amounts of open land. Since the efforts were first recorded in 1997, the MFHA’s projects have preserved more than 1.7 million acres.

“This is a much overdue recognition,” said ELCR President Ken Haddad, “as MFHA has long been a leader in conserving land for equine use. Collectively the MFHA Masters and members truly epitomize the Anson Taylor Jr. Award for outstanding contributions to conserving land for equine use through their extraordinary generosity of time, effort and resources.”