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

Veterinary Services 

Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health November 2006 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Nonambulatory Equids in the 

United States 

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 

(Farm Bill) requested that U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) investigate the scope, causes, and handling 

practices of nonambulatory livestock in the United 

States. In partial response to the request, the USDA’s 

National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) 

Equine 2005 study included questions about 

nonambulatory equids. 

For the Equine 2005 study, NAHMS collected data 

on equine health and management practices from a 

representative sample of operations with 5 or more 

equids in 28 States divided into 4 regions.* The 28-State 

target population represented 78.0 percent of equids and 

78.6 percent of operations 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. Over 

95 percent of operations had horses and 34.8 percent 

had equids other than horses, e.g., donkeys, burros, 

mules, ponies, and miniature horses. 

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, whether or not 

it was present at the time of the interview. The operation 

was its home base. 

 A nonambulatory equid was defined as an 

equid unable to stand or rise on its own without 

assistance for any length of time, or an equid that could 

stand but not walk. An equid was considered 

nonambulatory even if the time frame of the condition 

was very brief, and equids affected for any length of time 

were classified as nonambulatory. This definition was 

utilized to meet the needs of the Farm Bill request as 

well as for consistency across species. 

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*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

Prevalence of nonambulatory equids 

Overall, 5.2 percent of operations had one or more 

resident equids become nonambulatory during the 

previous 12 months (table 1). The percentages of 

operations where any resident equids became 

nonambulatory were similar across regions, ranging from 

4.2 percent in the West region to 8.3 percent in the 

Northeast region. 

Table 1. Percentage of operations where any 

resident equids became nonambulatory during the 

previous 12 months, by region: 

Percent Operations 

Region 

South Northeast West Central All Ops. 

Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent 

4.9 8.3 4.2 5.2 5.2 

The percentage of operations where one or more 

resident equids became nonambulatory during the 

previous 12 months increased as operation size 

increased. Higher numbers of resident equids on large 

operations provide more opportunities for the occurrence 

of events that could result in nonambulatory equids. 

For all operations, 0.6 percent of resident equids 

became nonambulatory during the previous 12 months, 

while 0.2 percent of donkeys or burros and miniature 

horses, 0.6 percent of mules and horses (excluding 

miniature horses), and 0.5 percent of ponies became 

nonambulatory. 

Age of nonambulatory equids 

Similar percentages of equids by age category from 

birth to less than 20 years became nonambulatory 

during the previous 12 months. The highest percentage 

of equids that became nonambulatory during the 

previous 12 months (10.4 percent) were 30 years of age 

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

Table 2. Percentage of resident equids that became 

nonambulatory during the previous 12 months, by 

age: 

 

Age Percent Resident Equids

Birth to 30 days 0.2 

More than 30 days 

but less than 6 months 0.3 

6 months to 

less than 5 years 0.4 

5 years to 

less than 20 years 0.5 

20 years to 

less than 30 years 1.8 

30 years or more 10.4 

Primary causes of nonambulatory condition 

Injury/wounds/trauma and lameness together 

accounted for half (52.1 percent) of nonambulatory 

equids 6 months of age and older. Old age was the most 

common “other” cause of nonambulatory resident equids 

aged 6 months or more. Heart problems, 

toxicity/poisoning, and heat stroke were also included in 

the “other” category (figure 1). It is important to 

remember that the duration an animal was in a 

nonambulatory state could be very brief, i.e., any length 

of time. For example, a horse with colic that was 

nonambulatory for just an hour and then recovered 

would have met the case definition of nonambulatory. 

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Colic or

other digestive problems

Respiratory problems

Reproductive problems

Injury/wounds/

trauma

Lameness,

leg, or hoof

problems*

Neurologic

problems

Other 

Unknown

Cause

Percent

Figure 1. For Resident Equids Aged 6 Months or More that 

Became Nonambulatory During the Previous 12 Months, 

Percentage of Equids by Primary Cause of Nonambulatory 

Condition

5.8

1.7

2.7

21.5

30.6

4.6

25.6

7.5

*Equid could not be used for intended purpose without treatment

Outcome 

Nearly one of five nonambulatory equids (17.6 

percent) recovered to full function and remained on the 

operation, while 7.4 percent recovered partially and 

remained on the operation. Nearly three of four 

nonambulatory equids (71.6 percent) died or were 

euthanized: 24.7 percent died (not euthanized), and 46.9 

percent were euthanized (table 3). These percentages 

are not unexpected, as conditions that lead to a 

nonambulatory state can be severe. 

Table 3. For resident equids that became 

nonambulatory during the previous 12 months, 

percentage of nonambulatory equids by outcome: 

Outcome Percent Equids 

Died (not euthanized) 24.7 

Euthanized 46.9 

Recovered to full function 

and remained on operation 17.6 

Recovered to full 

function and sold or 

moved off operation 1.4 

Recovered to partial 

function and remained 

on operation 7.4 

Recovered to partial 

function and sold or 

moved off operation 0.1 

Moved off operation 

while nonambulatory 0.0 

Other 1.9 

Total 100.0 

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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 

http://nahms.aphis.usda.gov 

#N453.1106 

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