Needless to say, whether recreation, racing or showing, horses are still big business in Colorado.

The aforementioned findings come from a comprehensive study by the financial consulting and accounting firm of Deloitte, commissioned by the American Horse Council Foundation. The Horse Council had its anecdotes, but wanted the hard facts that Deloitte was able to provide. Colorado was one of the "break-out" states for
data collection.

"You have to remember, every time you see a horse, that horse needs shoes, it has to eat, it has veterinary care, barns, fencing," said Cindy Schonaltz, with the Colorado Horse Council. "Anybody who rides has to have boots, jeans, hats - and it goes on." 

In the Four Corners, the "popularity" of horses, and the prospering "business" of the equine industry, was evident during the second annual Rocky Mountain Horse Expo, sponsored by the Colorado Horse Council and held at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, Oct. 6-9. The council also holds similar annual events in Denver and Grand Junction.

"A lot of what the Colorado Horse Council is about is education," said Schonaltz, lauding the benefits of the expo-type forums. "We get a lot of the newer horse owners, and the ones who are buying smaller tracts and want a horse. That's why we have seminars, so they learn to take care of the horse ... It's a very big commitment."

Indeed, as southwest Colorado's general demographics shift, so do the horse owner demographics. According to Colorado Horse Coalition Executive Director Brian Kitchen, the actual number of horses in the state hasn't changed since the late '90s - and in fact, in comparison to other states, Colorado has dropped from third in horse population to ninth - but the industry is still vital. The shift has come from the disappearance of the "working" ranches that incorporated a variety of livestock.

"In the Four Corners area ... I would say that there are more horses here now than there are cattle," said Con Kemple, with Farmers Supply Mill. "The horse business is probably 75 percent of my business now ... and that's changed because of cattle problems and drought and moving dairies out. And the people who are moving in are
people who are bringing quality horses in. When I moved up here 35 years ago, the horses that were here were out in the pasture with the cows. The horses that are here now are in the barn. They're better quality, higher priced horses. These people who are here now are more horse-oriented ... They've got quality horses and they know how to take care of them and they don't mind spending money to feed the horse properly ... It's a little bit of a different world."

Schonaltz echoes Kemple's observations, noting, "The demographics have changed. We have the same number of horses, but I would imagine it's less per person than it was way back then. There were a lot more ranchers with a lot greater number of horses. Now it's a family with one or two."

According to the Deloitte study, recreational horse ownership accounts for $607 million of the total economic impact, with a $365 million direct impact. People pay more money for their horses today, so they'll spend more on it if they
get sick," said John Harris, DVM. "If I quoted a price for surgery 10 years ago at $3,000, they'd say, forget it, I'll get another horse. But now they're spending $6,000 or $7,000 without batting their eye."

 

A key to keeping Colorado's current equine industry solvent does appear to be education. The higher demographic is able to purchase the animal and the "trappings" associated with owning a horse, but disseminating the knowledge for quality care is more challenging.

"They often don't even have enough information to know what you're talking about to make an informed decision," said a concerned Kathleen Sullivan, a Pagosa Springs-based natural horsemanship clinician working to get "new" horse people educated about their animals. "They don't know the questions to ask."

Such is the benefit of the annual expo, which features, in addition to the vendor showcase, a number of seminars and demonstrations. "And some real good ones," said Kemple, who is often frustrated when customers come into the store asking questions they could have learned had they attended such an event. "People here should be taking advantage of some of these great things."

Southwest Colorado's horse population remains vital for uses beyond the ranch. Hunting has traditionally relied on equines for transport, and the caretakers of the San Juan National Forest work regularly with those in the region who opt for the four-legged transport as opposed to the motorized variety.

"It's part of the heritage here," said Don Kelly, trails foreman for the San Juan National Forest, of the role horses play. "The local Backcountry Horseman group, they did over 700 hours of volunteer trail work. If you look at the relief on our ranger district, we can't use ATV's everywhere."

With 580 miles of trails, Kelly and team do rely on healthy, strong horses. The trick currently is promoting a share-the-trails concept integrating mountain bikes, ATVs and even hikers with the horses.

"Keeping the use of the land, keeping use of the trails that's a huge issue here in Colorado," said Schonaltz. "We have to fight to keep trails open and keep horses on trails ... and work with other user groups to make sure the horse industry is involved in maintaining the trails, as well as when regulation comes up that might shut down
trails."

Serving as a legislative and regulatory watchdog for the horse industry is a great part of the Horse Council's purpose. As stated on the organization's Web site, "The Colorado Horse Council, Inc. is a grass-roots, all-breed, non-discipline specific organization dedicated to linking the horse owners and the horse industry of the
State of Colorado into a powerful, common voice in order to protect their common equine interests through legislation and education. The Colorado Horse Council, Inc. maintains an office in the Livestock Exchange Building at the "heart" of Colorado's horse industry. It also employs a full-time contract lobbyist, who works with the
State Legislature on horse and agriculture-related issues."

Last year, according to Schonaltz, the council tracked 35 bills in the state legislature. "If you don't keep an eye on legislation and regulation, you won't have a healthy industry," said Schonaltz, noting that the Colorado council also works closely with the national council monitoring efforts in Washington, D.C. "A big part of the Colorado Horse Council is making sure we stay hooked into the entire livestock industry. It is important for us to be a part of all of livestock and that they understand that our issues are their issues and vice versa."

At Durango's recent Horse Expo, most folks weren't interested in legislation rather horse training, horse purchase, and exploring the latest advances in caring for their equine friends. The Rocky Mountain Horse Expo anticipated between 5,000 and 10,000 attendees at the multi-day event.

"We want to thank the Four Corners for their hospitality," said Kitchen, "and for attending the Four Corners Expo. We're going to be here the same weekend next year.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what they'd like to see for programs, headliners, clinicians, email or call This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , (303) 292-4981."

 

Further information on the Colorado Horse Council is available on the web, www.cohoco.com.

"We're so far removed from the farm and ranch now... so many kids have never seen a horse up close," said Schonaltz, citing research done by Penn State University that indicated children involved in a "horse" program had higher learning skills. "It is a big deal," she said.

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