The 2015 American Horse Publications (AHP) Equine Industry Survey, sponsored by Zoetis, is complete and preliminary results paint a positive picture for both veterinarians and for the industry’s recovery from the economic decline of 2008-2009.

The survey ran from Jan. 6 to April 1 and was designed to gauge participation trends and management practices in the U.S. equine industry, identify critical issues facing the equine industry as perceived by those who own or manage horses, and lead to a better understanding of horse health issues. Previous surveys were conducted in 2009-2010 and 2012.

This year, more than 11,300 people participated, resulting in 10,662 usable surveys after researchers removed duplicates and ineligible respondents (residing outside the United States, invalid zip codes, not owning or managing horses).

Horse Health Care Findings

Study results showed that horse owners and managers are about three times more likely to make health care decisions themselves (regardless of whether they board their horses or keep them at home) than to make care decisions in combination with other professionals, such as barn or farm managers, trainers, or veterinarians.

However, more detailed questions revealed that most owners work closely with their veterinarians on their horses’ health care regimen.

Vaccinations Nearly 75% of respondents said their veterinarians are involved in creating their horses’ deworming schedules.

More than 60% of respondents said they have their practitioners administer those vaccines, while just over 31% of respondents said they administer their horses’ vaccines themselves.

Many respondents also reported discussing vaccines with their veterinarians:

84.7% said they discuss what their horse is being vaccinated for;

51% said they talk about what to expect when a horse is vaccinated;

46.4% said they review how many vaccines a horse receives; and

34.6% said they discuss where the vaccines are injected (i.e., neck, hindquarters, etc.).

When it comes to which vaccines horse owners employ, the survey showed that:

Most respondents (58% to 72%, depending on the vaccine) vaccinated against Eastern equine encephalomyelitis, equine herpesvirus, equine influenza, rabies, Western equine encephalomyelitis, and West Nile virus once per year;

20% of respondents vaccinated against those diseases twice per year, except for rabies, which only 3.6% said they vaccinated against twice per year; and

The vaccines for strangles is less commonly used—39.5% of respondents do not vaccinate against strangles. Also, 45.4% of people said they do not vaccinate against leptospirosis (there is currently no leptospirosis vaccine approved for horses, but veterinarian sometimes veterinarians use the cattle vaccine off-label in at risk areas).

Finally, nearly 78% of respondents reported that they purchase their horses’ vaccines from their veterinarian. When asked why, nearly 67% of respondents said their practitioner influences their vaccination decisions most.

Deworming Research now suggests that rotational deworming—dosing horses with different classes of dewormers in rotation—contributes significantly to parasites developing resistance to anthelmintics, the drugs designed to combat them. Still, most respondents (55.3%) cited rotational deworming as their preferred method. Another 38.2% of respondents said they deworm based on fecal egg count results, 3% said they use a daily dewormer, and 1.1% said they do not deworm their horses.

Meanwhile, nearly 80% of respondents said they are concerned about drug-resistant parasites. About half said their veterinarians had recommended a fecal egg count, and nearly 54% had carried through and had a fecal egg count performed.

The majority of respondents (88%) said they deworm their horses themselves, while 6.6% said their farm or barn managers deworm their horses. Respondents reported a variety of annual deworming frequencies, including four times per year (27.3%), twice per year (20.9%) every other month (18.7%), three times per year (16.1%), and “other” (the most common responses were as needed, based on fecal egg count, or daily).

Nearly half of the respondents (48%) indicated that they include their veterinarian in creating their horses’ deworming schedules, which represents an increasing trend when compared to the 2012 (44.3%) and 2009-2010 (15.7%) survey results.

Respondents reported using the following dewormers: ivermectin (74.8%), ivermectin/praziquantel (67.1%), pyrantel pamoate (53.8%), fenbendazole single dose (49.9%), moxidectin (28.7%), moxidectin/praziquantel (26.9%), oxibendazole (19.4%), fendbendazole multiple dose (18.8%), and pyrantel tartrate (1.5%).

Most respondents (52%) said they typically purchase their dewormers at local feed stores, while 36.9% and 26.3% of respondents said they buy dewormers from Internet retailers and farm fleet/chain stores, respectively.

As with vaccinations, veterinarians have the greatest influence on which dewormers are purchased; however, price is a common determinant when it comes to selecting dewormers.

Sedatives and Tranquilizers A new addition to the 2015 AHP Equine Industry Survey was a section on sedative and tranquilizer use, and most respondents (70%) indicated that they or their veterinarians have used a sedative or tranquilizer on their horses. Common reasons for sedating horses included dental work (79.5%), veterinary work (75.4%), shoeing (17%), and clipping (16.9%).

Nearly 94% of respondents said they’d purchased sedatives or tranquilizers from their veterinarian, 6.4% said they sometimes buy such products online, and 5.7% indicated that they purchase them from feed stores.

As for selecting sedatives, 42.5% of respondents said they prefer injectable products administered by their veterinarians, while 20.9% prefer products dispensed by their veterinarian that they administer later.

About 16% of respondents said they prefer acepromazine, 8.4% said they prefer detomidine gel (marketed as Dormosedan gel), 5.9% opt for xylazine (marketed as Rompun), and 2.8% select Calm and Cool (now marketed as Divine Equine).

Horse Industry Issue Findings

The researchers also sought to learn what respondents believe to be the horse industry’s biggest challenges. Each respondent selected their top three horse industry issues from a list.

More than 50% of respondents ranked unwanted horses and what to do with them as one of the top three issues the industry faces however, the percentage of respondents identifying that issue has been declining (62.9% in 2009-2010, 55.8% in 2012, and 53.7% in 2015).

Other commonly selected issues included the cost of horse keeping (40.1%), overbreeding (34.5%), owners who don’t understand horses (32.6%), the loss of trails and riding areas (31.0%), and competition for open space from other agricultural commodity producers and developers (27.0%). The researchers noted that the top five issues identified remain the same from the 2012 survey.

Additionally, while disease outbreaks weren’t in the collective top three, individuals from three zip code regions (which included much of the central part of the country), identified diseases as an issue twice as often as respondents from other parts of the nation.

Horse slaughter appeared to be of increasing concern going from west to east across the country, the researchers said. And not having the option of slaughter in the United States appeared to be a bigger concern in many parts of the western United States

Other Findings

Additional important findings the researchers identified included:

More than 70% of respondents said they own or manage the same number of horses they did last year, which suggests an increase in stability in how many horses people own compared to previous surveys. Further, the proportion of respondents who expect to own or manage more horses in 2016 is a few points higher than the one-year forecast from the previous survey.

Respondents were most likely to view their horses as family members, companion animals, performance partners, and/or best friends as opposed to an investment, livestock animal, or employee.

An estimated one-third of horses owned or managed by respondents are idle, retired, or otherwise not working.

Based on the survey’s findings, the researchers ultimately concluded that “it appears that the equine industry has stabilized in its recovery from the decline following the Great Recession of 2008-2009.”

The full study results will be available in the near future.

Reference: 2015 AHP Equine Industry Survey sponsored by Zoetis