The American Horse Council Foundation’s 2017 Economic Impact Study of the U.S. Horse Industry, released today, revealed it generates approximately $122 billion in total economic impact. That is an increase from $102 billion in the 2005 Economic Impact Study.
The industry also provides a total employment impact of 1.74 million, and generates $79 billion in total salaries, wages, and benefits. There are 7.2 million horses in the U.S., with Texas, California and Florida continuing as the top three states with the highest population of horses. New Jersey ranks 39th with 59,400.
“Those involved in the equine industry already know how important it is to the U.S. economy. Having these updated numbers is critical not only to the AHC’s efforts up on Capitol Hill, but also for the industry to demonstrate to the general public how much of a role the equine has in American households,” said American Horse Council President Julie Broadway.
“While the number of horses in the US has decreased, this was not entirely unexpected due to the decline in breed registration trends over the last few years.”
A bright spot for the industry: 38 million, or 30.5 percent of U.S. households include a horse enthusiast, and 38 percent of participants are under the age of 18. Additionally, approximately 80 million acres of land is reserved for horse-related activities.
“For this update of the study, we wanted to get a better picture of the number of youth in the pipeline, which is a number that we have not previously included in our economic impact studies.
“Additionally, being able to put a number (on) the amount of land use for equine-related activities is essential to ensuring that we are able to continue to protect and preserve that land for its intended use,” said the AHC president.
The National Economic Impact Study is available for purchase through the AHC website here: http://www.horsecouncil.org/horsecouncil-publications/. Additionally, the 15 state breakouts will be available for purchase by the beginning of April. Those with questions can contact the AHC at info@horsecouncil.org.