MHIB Chairman Jim Steele presenting the September Touch of Class award to Ashley Foster of Brookeville. Also pictured: Ashley's mom Patty Foster, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown and Deputy Sec. MD Department of Ag Mary Ellen Setting.

MHIB Chairman Jim Steele presenting the September Touch of Class award to Ashley Foster of Brookeville. Also pictured: Ashley’s mom Patty Foster, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown and Deputy Sec. MD Department of Ag Mary Ellen Setting.

At this year’s Maryland Horse Council Annual BBQ, held on Saturday, September 14 at Dodon Farm in Davidsonville, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown was on hand to present the Maryland Horse Industry Board’s Touch of Class award to Ashley Foster as well as present a Secretary’s Citation to Kathy Schwartz-Howe.

Touch of Class winner Foster, a 17-year-old college freshman at Auburn University and her horse Charade, a 12-year-old Warmblood gelding, were champions in the Large Junior Hunter 16-17 division at the Washington International Horse Show, Capital Challenge Horse Show and the National Horse Show, all in 2012. They also placed first nationally in the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s 2012 Horse of the Year Grand Champion for Junior Hunters 16-17. The pair from Rolling Acres in Brookeville, have competed up and down the East Coast, racking up ribbons as they go. Foster has also won a variety of awards such as the Frances Rowe Award for Junior Exhibitor of the Year by the Virginia Horse Shows Association and the Tad Coffin Equitation Championship.

MHIB Jim Steele, Kathy Schwartz-Howe (Days End Farm) with her Secretary's Citation, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown and Mary Ellen Setting (Deputy Sec. MD Department of Ag.)

MHIB Jim Steele, Kathy Schwartz-Howe (Days End Farm) with her Secretary’s Citation, Lt. Governor Anthony Brown and Mary Ellen Setting (Deputy Sec. MD Department of Ag.)

Also at the MHC BBQ, Schwartz-Howe was honored with a Secretary’s Citation. She is the founder of Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Lisbon and was recognized for her lifetime achievement in protecting horses from abuse and neglect and for organizing community outreach and education programs to teach people how to care for equines responsibly. After 24 years, Schwartz-Howe is retiring as executive director of Days End.

More photos from the MHC BBQ will be printed in an upcoming issue of The Equiery.