Jan Anderson raises and shows Tennessee Walking Horses in Stephenville, says, “... there is a lot going on here with the horse industry….” Jan mentioned a Stephenville family by the name of Feltner who have raised a World Grand Champion Tennessee Walker and another, which has produced 6 world and reserve world champions. “I don't think Stephenville, the City of Champions, is aware that we have championship Walking Horses right here in town. On Monday, we are headed back to the Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration to compete on a national level and will be back Sept. 7th. This is one of the biggest horse shows the nation has, with thousands of entries and an attendance of approximately 35,000 people each evening for 10 days.”

ECONOMIC HORSE POWER!

According to The Economic Impact of the Horse Industry in the United States, a study done by Barents Group, LLC for the American Horse Council, including recreation, showing, racing and other segments, the Texas Horse Industry Delivers $5.2 Billion dollars a year to the Texas economy. What's more, the industry involves more than 7 million participants and includes nearly 2 million horse owners. As a whole, the industry has an annual impact on the U.S. economy of $112 billion and supports 1.4 million full-time jobs with approximately $1.9 million paid in taxes at each level. The median income of Texas horse-owning families is around $60,000 with 38% of households earning under $50,000 and 21% over $100,000.

Here are a few notable facts about the Texas horse industry, according to a Texas A&M equine study:

*Horseowners have nearly $15 billion invested in barns, towing vehicles, trailers, tack and related equipment and spend over $2 billion annually just to maintain their horses.

*In showing and racing alone, over 300,000 owners, family members and volunteers spend over $3 billion annually attending competitive events with over a quarter of a million horses.

*Annual cash receipts for horses bought and sold exceeds $400 million and are over twice the combined total for hogs, sheep and lambs and nearly twice the total receipts of Texas wheat.

*Over a quarter of a million households have billions invested in horses and horse-related equipment. Travel with Texas horses creates well over $3 billion in travel-related spending. The competitions and shows have a greater direct effect on the economic impact than horse racing as well as the recreational use of horses.