A Letter from MHC’s Presidents THE MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL


Horse Sport Stable Survey Summer is peak season for active Marylanders and horse people are no


exception. Many of us train, compete, teach, and ride at a slightly more frenetic pace than usual when the weather is warm. We conducted a sur- vey over the last month to get a sense of which disciplines our training, boarding, and lesson facilities focus on; which disciplines are the most prevalent in which counties; and which breeds our sport horse breeders produce. 161 stables responded. T is data may appear dry to some, but they tell a terrifi c story: Mary- land is indeed horse country; Maryland horse country is indeed an im- portant economic driver in our state; and the Maryland horse industry is indeed an economic sector we need to preserve. Data like these make an impression on your representatives and on government offi cials and can help explain why horse issues are serious issues. As a result, we owe a big thank you to each of you who took the survey


– there is power in numbers and a “somebody else will do it” mindset sets the whole industry back. With that in mind, please take this opportu- nity to respond to the 2023 American Horse Council Economic Impact Survey. T ere will be a Maryland specifi c analysis of those survey data which will be exceptionally helpful to our work representing the industry in Annapolis and will also help each of you secure project funding and potential sponsorships. You can fi nd the AHC survey links here: https:// horsecouncil.org/economic-impact-study/


Our Respondents Almost two-thirds (57.8%) of our respondents were boarding and les-


son barns open to the public as opposed to private operations. T irty- eight percent of the boarding operations are small businesses and board fewer than 5 horses. Twenty-two percent are large operations boarding 15 or more horses. Of the lesson barns, almost half (46.6%) have more than 15 students


and a little over a quarter (28.5%) have fewer than 5. Half of the lesson barns give lessons on both school-owned and privately-owned horses. A fi fth of the barns use school horses only, and 23.6% give lessons to students on their own horses only. A majority of our training barn respondents (63.5%) have fewer than 5 horses in training at any given time. A fi fth of them (20.3%) have 5-10 horses at any given time. Nine-and-a-half percent have between 11 and 15 horses in training, and 6.8% are large operations with 15 or more horses in training at any given time.


continued... Thank You To Our Maryland Horse Council Sponsors! join.mdhorsecouncil.org www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580 THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | JUNE 2023 | 7


Our Disciplines Across the state, more of our stables cater to show hunters or eventing than any other discipline. Almost a third (29.8%) of our respondents said they were show hunter barns (48), and about another third (28%) said they were eventing barns (45). About a fi fth (21.7%) of our respondents identifi ed themselves as


fi eld Hunters/foxchasing barns (35). Another fi fth of our respondents (20.5%) cater to equitation with an identical number catering to classical dressage. Fifteen percent of our respondents focus specifi cally on show jumping. About 14% of barns off er hunter paces/paper chases (22), and just over 11% of our barns said they are pony clubs (18). Smaller percentages of our respondents cater to the following: judged


trail riding (9.3%); 4-H (6.2%); Pleasure driving (6.2%); T oroughbred fl at racing (6.2%); and working equitation (5.6%). T e amazing variety of equestrian experiences available in Maryland is demonstrated by our respondents who cater to these disciplines: gym- khana (4.3%); steeplechases and point-to-points (3.7%); Western dres- sage (3.7%); endurance (3%); mounted archery (2.5%); para-equestri- an (2.5%); ranch riding (2.5%); Western show (2.5%); western speed (2.5%); combined driving (1.8%); reining (1.8%); rodeo (1.8%); cowboy mounted shooting (1.3%); jousting (1.3%); saddle seat (1.3%); vaulting (1.3%); polo (1.3%); pony racing (.62%), polocrosse (.62%), and gaited dressage (.62%).


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