From 1996 to 2004, the number of horses in the United States jumped by 2.3 million. While this figure includes all horses, it’s unlikely that wild horse numbers have increased much.

So there should be 9.2 million more hooves that will need professional footcare this year than there were in 1996.

Back in 1996, a similar survey conducted by the American Horse Council found that there were 6.9 million horses in the U.S. By 2004, this figure had increased to 9.2 million.

Big, Big Business

The latest survey demonstrates that the horse industry contributes $39 billion in direct economic impact to the U.S. economy. It also supports 460,000 jobs on a full-time basis based on direct spending.

In 1996, the industry contributed $25.3 billion to the economy and represented the full-time equivalent of 338,500 jobs through direct spending.

When you add both indirect and induced spending to the economic returns, the industry’s overall economic impact totals $102 billion.

Direct impact is measured by the purchase of goods and services by individuals directly involved in the business. The indirect impact includes purchases made by industry suppliers and their suppliers to support the manufacturing and delivery of their products. This would include such items as shoes, anvils, nails and shoeing tools.

Induced spending represents purchases made by individuals in the horse industry for food, clothing, entertainment and related horse related items.

During the past 10 years, the number of horse owners has grown from 1.9 million to 2 million. Another 2 million…