The information derived from the 2012 AHP Equine Industry Survey did not contain many surprises. In fact, the survey found the demographics and other factors addressed in the survey to be very similar to the results of the 2010 survey with a few exceptions.
23.9% of AHP survey responders under age 35
A strength of the American Horse Publication survey is that the geographic regions of the United States are almost uniformly represented.
© 2012 by Debra Krall
Relative to the 2009-2010 AHP survey, a slightly higher percentage of individuals report having at least one horse in their care given to them. This difference is statistically significant and may reflect factors in the economy such as the higher cost of feed and fuel.
A strength of AHP survey, in accordance with the aims of survey, is that the geographic regions of the United States are almost uniformly represented, with geographic representation being roughly similar to the 2009-2010 AHP survey.
| Zip Code Region | Zip Codes Included | States Included |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 00000-09999 | CT,MA,ME,NH,RI,VT. |
| 1 | 10000-19999 | DE,NY,PA. |
| 2 | 20000-29999 | District of Columbia, MD, NC, SC,VA,WV. |
| 3 | 30000-39999 | AL,FL,GA,MS,TN. |
| 4 | 40000-49999 | IN, KY, MI, OH. |
| 5 | 50000-59999 | IA, MN, MT, ND, SD, WI. |
| 6 | 60000-69999 | IL, KS, MO, NE. |
| 7 | 70000-79999 | AR, LA, OK, TX. |
| 8 | 80000-89999 | AZ, CO, ID, NM, NV, UT, WY. |
| 9 | 90000-99999 | AK, CA, HI, OR, WA. |
The majority of the survey's respondents are horse owners with almost 50% also indicating that they are pleasure riders. This measure is down almost 10 percentage points from the 2009-
2010 survey.
Households with combined income of less than $75,000 represent just under 50% of the sample, which is slightly higher than the 47% from the 2009-2010 survey. A percentage of 12.7% have incomes over $150,000 per year which is slightly lower than the 13.4% from the 2010 survey.
In this year's survey, 46% of the sample consists of households with only 1 member involved with horses, and nearly 40% of the sample consists of households with 2 members involled with horses. This may be due to the age distribution of the sample, which coincides with a time when children leave the house. Households with 3 and 4 members are almost equally represented and account for roughly 30% of the sample.
The age distribution in this sample closely resembles that of the 2009-2010 AHP Equine Industry survey as well as the equine participant population based on results from previous surveys; just over 60% of the respondents are 45 and older and 23.9% are under age 35, with 8.8% being over 65 years of age.