AHC unveils 2025 year-end Congressional Scorecard

The American Horse Council has released its 2025 year-end Congressional Scorecard, a nonpartisan ranking meant to show which lawmakers most actively supported the U.S. equine industry during the first session of the 119th Congress. In its March 6, 2026 announcement, AHC said the scorecard weighs legislative action, caucus participation, and lawmakers’ responsiveness to industry priorities. The organization’s earlier mid-year methodology specified points for sponsoring or co-sponsoring priority bills, belonging to the Congressional Horse Caucus, participating in AHC events, and being accessible to AHC members and staff. The full year-end scorecard itself is posted behind a password-protected page, so AHC’s public release gives the framework, but not the underlying rankings or member-by-member breakdown. (horsecouncil.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals working in equine practice, the scorecard is a reminder that federal horse policy is being shaped across more than just welfare debates. AHC’s 2025 policy agenda included equine health appropriations, horse protection enforcement, rural veterinary workforce legislation, disease response, and international movement standards for performance horses. In its 2025 government affairs recap, AHC highlighted support for the Rural Veterinary Workforce Act, congressional attention to an EHV-1 outbreak response, and FY 2026 appropriations that included $2.45 million for equine health and $3.5 million for horse protection. That means the scorecard may be most useful as a signal of which lawmakers are engaging on veterinary capacity, biosecurity, and USDA equine programs, not just headline-grabbing horse industry issues. (horsecouncil.org)

What to watch: Watch for AHC to either publish more detail from the year-end rankings or use the scorecard in 2026 advocacy around the farm bill, veterinary workforce measures, and equine health funding. (horsecouncil.org)