Survey Results Show Horses Generate $122 Billion
The
American Horse Council announced the results of a survey done of its 2017 Economic Impact Study of U.S Horse Industry. These results show that the equine industry in the U.S. generates approximately $122 billion in total economic impact which is an increase from $102 billion in the 2005 economic impact study. As per the study it also indicates the industry provides employment to 1.74 million jobs. The current number of horses in U.S. is 7.2 million.
"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 AHC president Julie Broadway. "While the number of horses in the U.S. has decreased, this was not entirely unexpected, due to the decline in breed registration trends over the last few years."
Another part of study shows that approximately 38 million households that is almost 30.5% of U.S Households contains a horse enthusiast. It also shows that 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," Broadway said. "Additionally, being able to put a number (to) 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."
The National Economic Impact Study is available for purchase through the AHC website here: http://www.horsecouncil.org/horsecouncil-publications/.
By Apurva Chavan, Racing Writer, apurva.chavan@secretariatsworld.com