http://www.theequestrianchannel.com/id3.html
There are 9.2 million horses in the United States.
4.6 million Americans are involved in the industry as horse owners, service providers, employees and volunteers. Tens of millions more participate as spectators.
2 million people own horses.
The horse industry has a direct economic effect on the U.S.of $39 billion annually.
The industry has a $102 billion impact on the U.S.economy when the multiplier effect of spending by industry suppliers and employees is taken into account. Including off-site spending of spectators would result in an even higher figure.
The industry directly provides 460,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.
Spending by suppliers and employees generates additional jobs for a total employment impact of 1.4 million FTE jobs.
The horse industry pays $1.9 billion in taxes to all levels of government.
Approximately 34% of horse owners have a household income of less than $50,000 and 28% have an annual income of over $100,000. 46% of horse owners have an income of between $25,000 to $75,000.
Over 70% of horse owners live in communities of 50,000 or less.
There are horses in every state. Forty-five states have at least 20,000 horses each.
Numbers of Horses
The study concludes that there are 9.2 million horses in the U.S., including horses used for racing, showing, competition, sport, breeding, recreation and work. This includes horses used both commercially and for pleasure.
Specifically, the number of horses by activity is:
Racing - 844,531
Showing - 2,718,954
Recreation - 3,906,923
Other - 1,752,439
Total - 9,222,847
“Other” activities include farm and ranch work, rodeo, carriage horses, polo, police work, informal competitions, etc.
The Diversity of the Industry
The results of the study show that the horse business is a highly diverse industry that supports a wide variety of activities in all regions of the country. It combines the primarily rural activities of breeding, training, maintaining and riding horses with the more urban activities of operating racetracks, off-track betting parlors, horse shows and public sales.
Income Levels
The study dispels the mis-perception that the horse industry is an activity only for wealthy individuals. In fact, the horse industry is a diverse activity with stakeholders including recreational and show horse riders, and moderate-income track, show and stable employees and volunteers.
Approximately 34% of horse owners have a household income of less than $50,000 and 28% have an annual income of over $100,000. 46% of horse owners have an income of between $25,000 to $75,000.
Community Size
Over 70% of horse owners live in communities of 50,000 or less