Detailed Study on Equine Health, Management Released

The United States Department of Agriculture's National Animal Health Monitoring System released the first report from its 2015 equine study, Baseline Reference of Equine Health and Management in the United States, 2015.

The study is NAHMS' third national study of the U.S. equine industry. As with NAHMS' 1998 and 2005 equine studies, the 2015 edition was designed to provide participants, industry, and animal-health officials with information on the nation's equine population.

This information will serve as a basis for education, service, and research, while providing the industry with new and valuable information regarding trends in the industry for 1998, 2005, and 2015.

The study was conducted in 28 states, chosen for study participation based, in part, on the size or density of the states' equine population. Data collected for the study represented 71.6% of equids and 70.9% of U.S. operations with five or more equids.

Here are a few highlights of the Baseline Reference of Equine Health and Management in the United States, 2015:

• Approximately nine of 10 operations (88.9%) had 19 or fewer resident equids on May 1, 2015. These operations accounted for 58.1% of resident equids in the United States. Resident equids were defined as equids that spent more time at one operation than at any other operation.

• The majority of operations (70.7%) used a private veterinarian as their primary information source regarding equine health care.

• Operators on 38.8% of operations were knowledgeable about equine infectious anemia, while 18.2% recognized the name, not much else, and 7.7% said they had not heard of it before.

• Overall, 47.1% of operations performed at least one EIA test on resident equids in the previous 12 months, and 36.8% of resident equids had at least one EIA test in the previous 12 months.

• For all operations, the average cost of an EIA test (including call fee or cost of transportation) was $40.77, and ranged from $39.34 in the South Central region to $46.39 in the West region.