How Many Families Own A Horse ?

wangkw · Postby **wangkw** » Sun May 24, 2009 8:58 pm

I read some of the threads here and I got an unmistakable impression that some families are horse owners.
I wish I could be enlightened in the following :

Roughly how many families own at least one horse ?
What is the purpose of owning it? Is it for leisure, investment (trade) or racing ?
How old usually these family horses ? are they all thoroughbred ?
Maintenance per month ?..Not every family own a ranch or paddock right ? Then how do you keep them ? Do you need to
build a shed next to your house ?
Do you need a licence to own a horse ? Licence fee ? Is there any compulsory veterinary check-up ?
If you one day want to disown your horse..for whatever reason..what options do you have ?
If your horse is an active racehorse..do you race him every month ? In the neigherhood tracks or you van them to
somewhere for racing ?
Do you come up on top of your investment target ? In dollar terms ?

Purely for knowledge.

LB · Postby LB » Mon May 25, 2009 6:10 am

Are your questions referring specifically to posters on this bb? Or are you asking in more general terms about horse ownership in America?

wangkw · Postby **wangkw** » Mon May 25, 2009 6:43 am

Thanks..In general certainly..(whats bb ?)
My feeling when I read many posts here was that it could be a very widespread hobby among racing fans in America...esp for those
people living in a vast and remote neighbourhood..but my imagination could be heading towards a wrong path too.

LB · Postby LB » Mon May 25, 2009 9:31 am

Sorry, a bb is a bulletin board, I was just using a shorthand term for this forum.

Although the U.S. is a large country, horse ownership isn't terribly widespread anymore. I would guess that probably fewer than 5% of the population owns horses. The first major reason for that is that most people live either in cities or suburbs, and they don't have land available for horses to live on. The second reason is that horse ownership tends to be very expensive--especially when you're not able to house the horses on your own property.

I would think that most families that own horses keep them as pleasure animals and for riding. Many horse owners compete in horse shows, rodeos, gymkanas, endurance events, 3 day events, etc.

The most popular breed of horse in the U.S. is the Quarter Horse. There are 4-5 times as many Quarter Horses bred here each year as TBs.
You don't need to have a license to own a horse (you do to race one) however there may be zoning restrictions in place which determine whether or not you can keep one on your own property.

Most people who own horses sell them to someone else when they don't want to own them anymore.

The vast majority of active racehorses live at racetracks with their trainers and see their owners only periodically. We don't really have "neighborhood tracks" unless you happen to live in the vicinity of Keeneland or Belmont. :wink:

I hope that helps some.

wangkw · Postby **wangkw** » Mon May 25, 2009 10:09 am

LB..thanks for your time and details...very informative.

karenkarenn · Postby **karenkarenn** » Mon May 25, 2009 11:15 am

Wang
As far as families that own horses. We own horses and our neighbor owns one too.
Each of them have jobs, However to say that the most popular breed is the Quarter Horse I REALLLY have to say NO!! PLease go the eastern, southern parts of the United states where the gaited horses rule.
There are alot more other breeds out there than what alot of people think.
We live in a rural community and I betcha if you put all the rural communities together across the United States you would get more people than the major cities.
My oldest arab was my all around horse, he actually plowed this year.. really he did. Hes been having alot of problems because our shoer doesnt know that horse need heals... ! Last year we did reining.
Our second oldest of an off the track Thoroughbred, he tends to the yearling, lets our child ride him, and gets me to the shows. We brought him down to our sons school once to show them that their are other breds out there besides quarter horses...
Then our yearling Arab, making the grade in halter. He has had a saddle on, only shortly. Hes started his show season, but because hes young he cant haul wood for us, or lumber. Maybe when he gets older.
No not really expensive because we have the one ton bales of grass and grain hay and we go through that one month for 175 a ton. Not that bad and the horse really stay in condition all year round because they eat when they want to. We dont have alot of mold in the suppliers hay.
When our older arab can haul we will use our thoroughbred to help out. Then of course we have our Stormy Jack filly shes too young to do much with, but she s in California.
Two years ago I made money off of my older arab for lessons and I still do it with our thoroughbred so their is money coming in.
Our neighbors and their arabs. Well they are so calm that they go packing esp during hunting time. The 4 wheels cant get to alot of remote areas so they take your rescue horse ( from the Slaughter) and he packs tools and stuff in and packs the carcass out. They are a very good breed, if you train for the individual.
I have more to talk about because horses for us are so easy to use, its like a tool that you can use for alot of things.

LB · Postby LB » Mon May 25, 2009 4:28 pm

karenkarenn wrote: However to say that the most popular breed is the Quarter Horse I REALLLY have to say NO!! PLease go the eastern, southern parts of the United states where the gaited horses rule.
There are alot more other breeds out there than what alot of people think.

The American Quarter Horse Assoc. registers 125,000+ foals a year--and that only counts the Quarter Horse foals that are registered each year. No other breed approaches those numbers in the U.S. regardless of whether you see them where you live or not.

There are thousands of horse owners in eastern and southern parts of the U.S. who would debate your assertion that "gaited horses rule" in those areas. I see Fresians when I look out my window but that wouldn't make me generalize and say that they must be really really popular.

karenkarenn · Postby **karenkarenn** » Mon May 25, 2009 4:37 pm

You know LB I would go as far as sighting ONE breed.. Its starting to sound like you really are not looking at other registries.
secondly you are on a THOROUGHBRED Board.
Thirdly this post is about Families and horses and what they do with them.
Please do not speak for other people around this world you dont know half of the people around this world. Because some countries like ICELAND dont have anything but Icelandic horses.

"I would think that most families that own horses keep them as pleasure animals and for riding. Many horse owners compete in horse shows, rodeos, gymkanas, endurance events, 3 day events, etc. "

I think it would be better if you spoke of just yourself and not others.
Oh and Since I live near a racetrack I see those horses often.

wangkw · Postby **wangkw** » Mon May 25, 2009 4:45 pm

Thanks..dear karen..interesting..I could imagine so much fun having a 4 legged friend in horses..do some light duty works to
earn their own hay..half leisure...win-win case...

So sad in this tropical part of the world where I live, we only have the luxury of sun bath and hot pace..this tiny island of ours
(3.5 times Washington DC) cant afford to spare a room for these lovely animals ..as we are truly land scarce..and here if you
have a landed residence even in a "remote" area (furthest 42 km) you are multi-millionaire in American currency.

To see horses I must take a tube to our Kranji turf club where racing is held regularly...live telecast of racing in Perth,
Melbourne, NSW, SA, HK are also available.

Unfortunately, US events are some 12 to 15 hours behind us so normally we dont get to watch on TV...but few years back in
2002 Kentucky Derby was shown live (War Emblem).

Ok...thanks again LB nad Karen.

winds · Postby **winds** » Mon May 25, 2009 4:46 pm

Well Vicki and I only have one thoroughbred broodmare and her 3 week old foal. When we originally got her we kept her on a small private farm that had 2 retired thoroughbreds ( one was 31 and still going) and they have an Irish Bred mare that they AI'd this year.

The farm where we board now, the family has 3 horses and there are boarders on the farm with QH's and thoroughbreds. The family has an Irish Bred gelding, a pony and a QH.

That's what I have around me.............

winds

LB · Postby LB » Mon May 25, 2009 5:01 pm

karenkarenn wrote:You know LB I would go as far as sighting ONE breed.. Its starting to sound like you really are not looking at other registries.
secondly you are on a THOROUGHBRED Board.
Thirdly this post is about Families and horses and what they do with them.
Please do not speak for other people around this world you dont know half of the people around this world. Because some countries like ICELAND dont have anything but Icelandic horses.

"I would think that most families that own horses keep them as pleasure animals and for riding. Many horse owners compete in horse shows, rodeos, gymkanas, endurance events, 3 day events, etc. "

I think it would be better if you spoke of just yourself and not others.
Oh and Since I live near a racetrack I see those horses often.

I guess you didn't read my first post for comprehension. I mentioned several times that I was talking about the United States which is where I live.

I'm well aware that this is a THOROUGHBRED board--does that mean you think I should lie and say that there are more TBs born each year in the U.S. than Quarter Horses? :roll:

Since you think I'm not "looking at other registries" why don't you back up your assertions with some actual facts? How many Saddlebreds are born each year? Tennessee Walking Horses? Rocky Mountain Horses? Rather than simply blustering, why not prove me wrong?

wangkw · Postby **wangkw** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:21 pm

Thanks...Winds for sharing your info...much obliged.

oliverstoned · Postby **oliverstoned** » Mon May 25, 2009 6:23 pm

Not to intrude on this squabble but I must admit I have never heard anyone claim gaited horses were the most popular in the U.S.. I lifted the following from wikipedia under Quarter horse:

The American Quarter Horse is the most popular breed in the United States today, and the American Quarter Horse Association is the largest breed registry in the world, with over 4 million American Quarter Horses registered worldwide.

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Mon May 25, 2009 6:45 pm

The QH is by FAR the most populous equine breed in the US. The American Jockey Club has reported in the past that it registers 35-40,000 foals per year. I don't know the statistics for the other Jockey Clubs (Canadian, Brazilian, Argentine, Chilean, British, French, German, etc. etc.) But it is possible that the worldwide population of Thoroughbreds might be larger than the worldwide population of the Quarter Horse. ALL of the other breeds, and there are many of them, pale by comparison.

Linda_d · Postby **Linda_d** » Mon May 25, 2009 7:10 pm

LB wrote:
karenkarenn wrote: However to say that the most popular breed is the Quarter Horse I REALLLY have to say NO!! PLease go the eastern, southern parts of the United states where the gaited horses rule.
There are alot more other breeds out there than what alot of people think.

The American Quarter Horse Assoc. registers 125,000+ foals a year--and that only counts the Quarter Horse foals that are registered each year. No other breed approaches those numbers in the U.S. regardless of whether you see them where you live or not.

There are thousands of horse owners in eastern and southern parts of the U.S. who would debate your assertion that "gaited horses rule" in those areas. I see Fresians when I look out my window but that wouldn't make me generalize and say that they must be really really popular.

I think that Quarter Horses are easily the most popular breed in Upstate NY, most of PA, and Ohio if you look at the number and size of breed shows. Then would probably come horses used in hunter/jumper/English equitation competition -- TBs, warmbloods, and various sporthorse mixes. Paints, Appaloosas, and Morgans would probably far outdistance any of the gaited breeds in the Northeast, Mid Atlantic, and Midwest except maybe for Standardbreds that are used for racing (although I don't think these are what the poster meant by "gaited" breeds).