One among Many
If you live in a horse community, you know that many people simply love their
horses and many will have more than two or six. If you live in a patch that is
sparsely zoned for horse properties, you might wonder if you are the only horse
aficionado on the block. For anyone who has ever wondered just how many horses
are being kept in the United States, there are some interesting numbers to
peruse.
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According to the National AG Statistics Service of the
USDA, there were – on December 31, 1998 – 5.3 million horses
reportedly kept in the United States. Granted, some might
have gone unreported, but by and large this does appear to
be a correct figure. To properly understand the figure, you
need to keep in mind that what actually had been asked
during the surveys the USDA conducted were how many equines
a horse owner had. This means that not only horses –
strictly speaking – but also donkeys, burros, mules, and
ponies were included in the agency count.
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Yet before you decide to take these figures to the bank,
remember that there are some discrepancies between the
agency’s numbers and the numbers that some of the individual
states may have. For example, the state of Virginia reported
in the year 1995 that within its border there were 225,000
horses accounted for while the USDA only counted 150,000. A
similar discrepancy was noted in a collection of seven
counties located within Maryland which were estimated to
have about 80,976 horses in 1994 only to have the USDA claim
that the entire state of Maryland only has 45,000 horses!
Lat but not least, there is the noted differential in
numbers between the United States Equine Marketing
Association with its 1996 estimate of 11,429,361 horses,
which is more than two times the amount of horses the USDA
claims are currently found on United States soil.
Thus, while you might be skeptical of the USDA, here are the
numbers in thousands – by state – it has released: Alabama,
130; Alaska, 2.4 ; Arizona, 135; Arkansas, 70; California,
240; Colorado, 145; Connecticut, 26; Delaware, 10; Florida,
170; Georgia, 70; Hawaii, 7; Idaho, 145; Illinois, 100;
Indiana, 140; Iowa, 100; Kansas, 105; Kentucky, 155,
Louisiana, 65; Maine, 17; Maryland, 45; Massachusetts, 35;
Michigan, 130; Minnesota, 155; Mississippi, 75; Missouri,
140; Montana, 130; Nebraska, 75; Nevada, 70; New Hampshire,
8; New Jersey, 45; New Mexico, 65; New York, 155; North
Carolina, 140; North Dakota, 40; Ohio, 160; Oklahoma, 170;
Oregon, 120; Pennsylvania, 170; Rhode Island, 2; South
Carolina, 65; South Dakota, 75; Tennessee, 190; Texas, 600;
Utah, 75; Vermont, 20; Virginia, 150; Washington, 155; West
Virginia, 43; Wisconsin, 120; Wyoming, 62.
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Read the next horse pasture article on Controlled and Rotational Grazing. |
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