Source:  News Release/Yellow Horse Marketing

Equine Land Conservation Resource Elects Colby Balazs to Board of Directors

The Equine Land Conservation Resource (ELCR) is proud to announce the addition of Colby Balazs of Scituate, MA to its Board of Directors.  Balazs previously served as an Advisory Council member for the organization, and her move to the Board was elected by ELCR's current directors on October 3, 2011.  ELCR’s Board of Directors consists of sixteen members, who represent fourteen different states and a variety of backgrounds and involvement in equestrian sports.  In addition to her work with the Board, Balazs will also continue her service as a member of ELCR's Strategic Planning Committee.  "Members of the ELCR Board of Directors serve a critical role for our organization, and I am delighted at the election of Colby Balazs," noted Larry Byers, President of the Equine Land Conservation Resource's Board of Directors.  "As a previous member of our Advisory Council, she has already demonstrated how her extensive equestrian and professional knowledge, experience, and expertise are tremendous benefits towards our land conservation goals."

As an outdoor enthusiast and competitive eventer, Balazs is familiar with land use issues and is especially sensitive to land conservation.  Growing up in the small community of Glen Summit, Pennsylvania, which borders 2,000 acres of accessible state game lands, she became a supporter for responsible trail maintenance and advocacy.  Although lucky to have had access to the open land for recreation, she learned that not all users were responsible trail stewards, which in turn threatened access for all. 

Currently, Balazs is an active equestrian competitor in the sport of eventing. For the past two years, she was fortunate enough to be ranked in the top ten on the United States Eventing Association’s National Leaderboard, at the Training Level. Having recently sold her Irish Sport Horse, Hard Alee, she is looking forward to a bright future with her new young horse, Watermill Time. "In the eventing world, we depend upon the availability of land for our sport, but conservation of space for horse activities affects everyone, regardless of breed or discipline," explained Balazs. “Even those who don’t gallop cross-country need the hay to feed their horses that open land provides, so I'm happy to continue working with ELCR in my new role on the Board of Directors to help raise awareness of these issues."

Balazs is the Vice President of Marketing at SmartPak, a rapidly growing company made famous by selling name-brand supplements custom-packed for each customer's horse in a patented, individually-labeled and sealed single-dose package called the SmartPak™.  In addition to this unique line, SmartPak has become the largest equine online retailer for supplements, tack and equipment.  As the official tack and equipment supplier to the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), SmartPak is an environmentally-savvy company working hard to minimize its impact on the earth by abiding to the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” viewpoint of conservation.   "As a company of horse people serving horse people, we understand the impact land loss can have for all equestrians," Balazs noted.  "SmartPak is proud to assist ELCR in their efforts to conserve land to raise, train, and feed our nation's horses, and we look forward to continuing this partnership and help with future equine land conservation initiatives."

About the Equine Land Conservation Resource (ELCR): The Equine Land Conservation Resource is the only national not-for-profit organization advancing the conservation of land for horse-related activity. ELCR serves as an information resource and clearinghouse for land and horse owners on issues related to equine land conservation, land use planning, land stewardship/best management practices, trails, liability and equine economic development. For more information about the ELCR visit our website atwww.elcr.org or call (859) 455-8383.