
1,200 acres of trail saved from the auction block
When a beloved network of riding trails faced sale and subdivision, a county coalition used ELCR's planning toolkit to keep every mile open to the public.
Every day, open land disappears. ELCR equips communities with the tools, knowledge, and advocacy to conserve the places horses and people depend on.
Across the country, the open spaces where horses are ridden, raised, and rehabilitated are being lost to development. Once that land is gone, it rarely comes back.
ELCR is the only national nonprofit dedicated entirely to keeping that land intact, equipping landowners, communities, and decision-makers with the resources to act before it's too late.
From backcountry trails to working ranches, family farms to competition grounds, public parks to private easements. No single kind of horse country; all of it worth protecting.





Whatever your role (landowner, advocate, official, or volunteer), start here. Hover a topic to preview.
Conservation easements, estate planning, and tax benefits that let landowners protect their property, and their way of life, for generations.

Secure and expand equine access on parks, forests, and shared public spaces so the next generation can ride where we ride today.

Plan, build, and defend the trail systems that connect communities to the land and keep horses welcome on them.

Show up where land-use decisions are made. We help communities shape zoning, ordinances, and comprehensive plans that keep horse country intact.

Free, practical toolkits, templates, and step-by-step guides: everything you need to take the first action toward protecting land.


When a beloved network of riding trails faced sale and subdivision, a county coalition used ELCR's planning toolkit to keep every mile open to the public.

A Kentucky family placed a permanent conservation easement on their pasture, securing tax relief today and open land for the horses of tomorrow.

Working with land managers, a local advocacy group restored equine access to 9,000 acres of public range that had been closed for a decade.

Residents used ELCR's model ordinance language to add equine-land protections to their township's 20-year growth plan.

Trained with ELCR resources, local volunteers cleared, mapped, and reopened a long-neglected trail network for riders and hikers alike.

A regional equestrian center secured its future with a conservation easement that protects both the land and the events it hosts.

acres of equine land that landowners, communities, and advocates have helped conserve with ELCR's resources, and counting.
Every donation funds the toolkits, advocacy, and expertise communities use to protect land before it's lost. Give once, monthly, or in honor of someone, and put your support to work in the places horses love.
Donate NowIf you own land where horses live or ride, you have options. Explore conservation easements, tax benefits, and stewardship planning, then talk to someone who's helped hundreds of landowners do exactly this.
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