When People Think Horses, They Think Mackinac

This summer the new study "The Economic Impact of the Horse Industry in the United States” was released. It was conducted in 2004 by Deloitte Consulting LLP. Anyone in the horse business, or who owned an equine in the U.S., could contribute by simply filling out a questionnaire from the American Horse Council (AHC) on its Web site: www.horsecouncil.org. The results were quite interesting. Michigan plays an important role in the study and, of course, so does Mackinac Island.

Horses are big business, and mean money. More than 9.2 million horses live in our 50 states, including the District of Columbia. They’re owned by more than 1.96 million people with at least two million more people associated with their care or competition as family members or volunteers. This does not include the other professional service providers, i.e. farriers, suppliers, tack makers, jockeys, riders, drivers, or grooms.

Horses pull a Mackinac Island taxi on Main Street.

This survey is not based on the racing population, but as a whole is much more comprehensive than two other polls done by the AHC in the 1990s. The breakdowns came from the states, making for more accurate counting. Michigan ranks 13th in the country. It is the sixth largest horse state east of the Mississippi in numbers and economic factors.

Most people in our state, when asked about horses, associate none other than Mackinac Island at the top of the list. In area, our island has the largest number of horse concentration than anywhere else in Michigan. When people think of horses and Mackinac Island, they rank it as follows: First is horse-drawn transportation, followed by sightseeing, horseback riding, and drive-it-yourself carriages. The private horses here did not count in the general overview, but some private horses were counted in the actual 2004 AHC study. Interestingly, "horses in Michigan" then broke down to mean large A circuit competitive events, and racing, both harness and track, followed by breeding farms in the state. Mackinac beat them all.

The top five states with the largest horse populations are: Texas, California, Florida, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. Hawaii and Rhode Island have the fewest number of horses. The largest breed nationally of registered horses are Quarter Horses, followed by Thoroughbreds. More than 500,000 Thoroughbreds are used for racing, followed by more than 100,000 Quarter Horses. More than two million horses are used in showing and the rest, including the drafts, are lumped into the recreation category, which is a misnomer because there are working draft horses in every state. Mackinac Island has the largest working draft horse population in this state.

All of these horses have a substantial effect on the economy in the United States. They’ve accounted for $39 billion in annual economic effect, meaning goods and services bought directly for use on or with horses.

Horses also account for billions in indirect sales. The horses in this state account for thousands of jobs, too. It is both interesting and amazing to realize how many people are involved with horses, and how many horses there actually are in America.

Earlier this week, I did my own little survey with visitors who were waiting to take a carriage tour on Mackinac Island. Twelve out of the 12 people (six couples) all lived in lower Michigan. None had been to Mackinac. Three of these people currently had horses.

They came to Mackinac for the following reasons: they “heard it had no cars." "It was a pretty place to see." They “always wanted to see Grand Hotel and the big houses." They “wanted to ride in a horse-drawn vehicle." They “heard that even the taxis were horses and buggies."

And finally, a couple from the Thumb area of the state told me their neighbors told them (last year when they were here) that “seeing all those horses is what you think of when you think of horses in Michigan. It was really something. You should go to Mackinac Island and see it." Pretty neat!

Candice Dunnigan is an active member of the American Equestrian Association, the Waterloo Hunt, and the Mackinac Island Horsemen’s Association. Seasonally she resides at Donnybrook and Easterly Cottage.