According to the American Horse Council's study of the National Economic Impact of the U.S. Horse Industry, the United States has the largest horse population over all other countries in the world at over 9.2 million horses. China and Mongolia have fairly large horse populations as well. The United Kingdom, Australia, France and New Zealand have very low populations compared to many other countries. There were two countries reported as having a horse population of zero. According to this study, those horses in the U.S. are used in many capacities.
The uses or activities that the U.S. horse population is used for is shown in percentages in the pie chart below. Recreation is the way most horses in the U.S. are used, with showing taking the next largest percentage. The other activities include farm and ranch work, rodeo, carriage horses, polo, police work, informal competitions, and other non-specified activities. Horse racing holds the lowest percentage for horse usage in the United States.
The cost of caring for these horses can be very expensive, especially if hay rates are high. In 2014, the peak for hay cost was in May at $225 per ton of Alfalfa hay. This is typically due to high demand around that time.
