Washington, D.C. – After consulting with AHC members, industry stakeholders and leadership, the American Horse Council (AHC) Foundation has made the difficult decision to postpone the 2022 Economic Impact Study until 2023.

According to the Brookings Institution, an independent research group based in Washington, DC, the nation experienced two consecutive quarters of declines in gross domestic production (GDP); the decrease of 9.1% in the second quarter of 2020 was the steepest quarterly drop in economic output since modern record-keeping began in 1947. COVID-19–related job losses resulted in total employment falling by 20.5 million jobs in April. And in 26 states, more than one in five households was behind on rent in July.

AHC President, Julie Broadway stated, “The pandemic has affected the horse industry in a number of areas, and there is sufficient concern that the industry may not have fully recovered enough to accurately portray the robustness of its economic contributions. It may take several more months for the industry to recover from the economic and social impacts of the pandemic. For example, while show and competitions have reopened and started to rebound, some venues still have few spectators. Racetracks will not be operating 100% for the full year 2021, and in some cases, fans have not been allowed back to the grandstands at full capacity. Recreational riding should be recovering this summer but still perhaps not 100% on the year.”

AHC will continue to promote the study now slated for 2023. For more information see our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that address why we need this study, what’s included and not included in the study, uses of the study results, why horse owners should complete the survey and other background information which may be found at https://www.horsecouncil.org/economic-impact-study-faq/

If you have questions, contact American Horse Council President, Julie Broadway, at [email protected]