Texas is home for over 1 million horses, representing approximately 15% of all horses nationwide. Texas leads the nation in number of registered American Quarter Horses, American Paint Horses, Appaloosa Horses, and American Miniature Horses. Texas is second only to California in total Arabian Horses, and Thoroughbred Breeding Stallions.
Over 950,000 Texans are horse industry participants, and there are 289,000 Texas horse owners. FTE employment across the Texas horse industry exceeds 43,000 people and compares with the Rubber Products, Agricultural Forestry & Fishery Service, Wood Products & Transportation Industries.
The majority of participants associate with horses for "Quality of Life" reasons. There is significant crossover in use of horses for pleasure/recreation and showing/competition. Horseowners have $13 billion invested in barns, towing vehicles, trailers, tack, and related equipment and spend $2.1 billion annually just to maintain their horses. In showing and racing alone, almost 300,000 owners, family members, and volunteers spend $3 billion per year attending competitive events with over 250,000 horses.
Texas horses are valued at $4.2 billion. Annual cash receipts for horses bought/sold exceeds $354 million. Horse receipts are over 2 times greater than the combined total for hogs, sheep and lambs, and are 1.1 times the total receipts for Texas wheat. The total impact of the horse industry to Texas economy exceeds $11 billion annually.
To contact the Animal Science Extension Program Unit:
Dr. Pete Gibbs, Associate Department Head-Extension
2471 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-2471
Phone: 979-845-3579
Fax: 979-845-6433
email: p-gibbs@tamu.edu
