The production value of the equestrian economy plus its multiplier effect on the rest of the economy constitutes the overall economic impact of the county equestrian sector. This study provides an estimate of that economic impact. At the year 1999, there are 13,678 horses in Sonoma County. Household operators own 11,433 of these horses, and commercial operations own the other 2,254 horses. Commercial horse operations include boarding stables, training centers, breakers, breeders, and horse renting operations.
Many commercial operations combine some or all of the above functions.
The equestrian operations of households are heterogeneous. Figure 3 illustrates the wide distribution of backyard horse households, according to the number of horses that they control. The typical household on the average controls 12.6 acres of land and uses four of these acres to keep its horses. Its members have lived 22 years in Sonoma, and their average family size is between 2 and 3 persons, usually one adult male, one adult female, and sometimes one child. The mode represents the most frequently occurring, or repetitive value in an array or range of data, e.g., two horses is the most frequent case for backyard horses.