United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

Veterinary Services 

Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health March 2007 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Demographics of the 

U.S. Equine Population 

For the Equine 2005 study, the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Health 

Monitoring System (NAHMS) collected data on 

equine health and management practices from a 

representative sample of operations with 5 or more 

equids in 28 States within four regions.* The 28-

State target population represented 78.0 percent of 

equids and 78.6 percent of premises with 5 or more 

equids in the United States. Interviews were 

conducted from July 18 through August 12, 2005, 

and 2,893 equine operations provided data on 

equine health and management. For this study, a 

resident equid was defined as an equid that spent 

or was expected to spend more time at the 

operation than at any other operation during the 

previous 12 months. 

Operation size

 Operations participating in the Equine 2005 

study were categorized as small (5 to 9 equids), 

medium (10 to 19 equids), and large (20 or more 

equids). Although small operations accounted for 

only 36.6 percent of resident equids, they made up 

66.1 percent of all operations. In comparison, large 

operations represented 29.2 percent of all resident 

equids but just 7.8 percent of operations (table 1). 

 

__________________________ 

*Regions: 

West: California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, 

Washington, and Wyoming

Northeast: New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania

South: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

Maryland, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia 

Central: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, 

and Wisconsin.

Table 1. Percentage of operations and percentage of 

resident equids by size of operation: 

Size of Operation

(Number of Equids) Percent 

Operations 

Percent 

Resident 

Equids 

Small 

(5 to 9)* 66.1 36.6 

Medium 

(10 to 19) 26.1 34.2 

Large 

(20 or more) 7.8 29.2 

Total 100.0 100.0 

*Operations that had five or more equids per the National Agricultural 

Statistics Service list frame (primarily comprised of equine 

information from the 2002 Census of Agriculture) but fewer than five 

equids on July 1, 2005, were included in this category.

Primary function of operation 

As part of the Equine 2005 study, operators 

were asked to identify the primary function of their 

operation. A total of 40.3 percent identified their 

primary function as “farm/ranch” and 37.0 percent 

identified their primary function as “residence with 

equids for personal use.” 

Approximately 4 of 10 small operations reported 

a primary function of residence with equids for 

personal use or farm/ranch (46.0 and 40.3 percent, 

respectively). As operation size increased so did 

the percentage of operations where the primary 

function was boarding/training or breeding farm. As 

operation size increased the percentage of 

operations where the primary function was 

residence with equids for personal use decreased 

(table 2). 
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

Table 2. Percentage of operations by primary 

function and by size of operation:

Percent Operations 

Size of Operation 

(Number of Equids)

Small 

(5-9) 

Medium

(10-19) 

Large 

(20 or 

More) 

All 

Operations 

Primary 

Function Percent Percent Percent Percent

Boarding/ 

training 2.8 10.4 17.2 5.9 

Breeding 

farm 9.2 21.8 34.1 14.4 

Farm/ranch 40.3 42.5 32.3 40.3 

Residence 

with equids 

for personal 

use 46.0 22.2 10.4 37.0 

Other 1.7 3.1 6.0 2.4 

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Primary use of equids 

Operators were also asked to identify the 

primary use of equids on their operation. The 

highest percentage of operations (45.7 percent) 

used equids for pleasure, followed by farm/ranch 

work (24.8 percent) and breeding (15.9 percent) 

(figure 1). 

0

10

20

30

40

50

Pleasure Lessons/

school Show/ competition Breeding Racing Farm/ ranch work Other

Percent

Primary Use

45.7

1.4

9.6

15.9

1.4

24.8

1.2

Figure 1. Percentage of Operations by Primary Use of Equids

Type of equid

Most operations (95.6 percent) had full-size 

horses (including draft horses). One-third of 

operations (34.8 percent) had equids other than 

full-size horses. A higher percentage of operations 

in the South region had donkeys or burros (17.2 

percent) compared to the other regions. The 

Northeast and Central regions had higher 

percentages of operations with ponies (26.6 and 

21.3 percent, respectively) than the West and 

South regions (9.0 and 12.4 percent, respectively). 

The percentages of operations with mules, 

miniature horses, and full-size horses were similar 

across regions (table 3). 

Table 3. Percentage of operations by type of equids 

present on July 1, 2005, and by region: 

 Percent Operations 

 Region 

South 

Northeast West Central

All 

Operations 

Type of 

Equid Pct. Pct. Pct. Pct. Pct. 

Donkeys/ 

burros 17.2 9.5 8.8 7.7 12.2 

Mules 6.9 10.2 11.0 6.1 7.9 

Ponies 12.4 26.6 9.0 21.3 15.7 

Miniature 

horses 8.0 10.3 6.3 6.2 7.5 

Horses* 94.3 95.0 96.7 97.4 95.6 

Other** 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.3 

Any equid 

other than 

full-size 

horse 36.1 44.3 28.3 32.9 34.8 

*Domestic equids generally more than 14 hands (56 inches) high at 

the shoulder (near the last hairs of the mane). An equid less than 14 

hands high may also be considered a horse if its breed registry defines 

it as such (other than miniature horse). Excludes miniature horses but 

includes draft horses. Horses include light breeds (e.g., Thoroughbred, 

Arabian, Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, Morgan, Trakehner, etc.) and 

draft horses (e.g., Clydesdale, Belgian, and Percheron). 

**Includes zebra and zedonk (zebra-donkey cross). 
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

Age Distribution

The highest percentage of resident equids (56.7 

percent) were 5 to less than 20 years of age. Just 

7.6 percent of resident equids were 20 years or 

older. Since most foals are born during spring, the 

reference date regarding age of resident equids 

was July 1. The majority of foals were reported to 

be 31 days but less than 6 months of age (figure 2). 

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Birth to

30 days

31 days but

less than

6 months

6 months to

less than

5 years

5 years to

less than

20 years

20 years to

less than

30 years

30 years

or older

Age

Percent

0.8

7.4

27.5

56.7

6.9

0.7

Figure 2. Percentage of Resident Equids on July 1, 2005, by Age

_______________________________ 

For more information, contact: 

USDA:APHIS:VS:CEAH 

NRRC Building B, M.S. 2E7 

2150 Centre Avenue 

Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117 

970.494.7000 

E-mail: NAHMS@aphis.usda.gov 

www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/ncahs

#N466.1106 

____________________________________ 

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