The horse industry contributes approximately $50 billion in direct economic impact to the U.S. economy, and has a direct employment impact of 988,394 jobs. Additionally, the industry itself contributes $38 billion in direct wages, salaries, and benefits.

From those direct effects, the horse industry’s contribution ripples out into other sectors of the economy. Adding these ripple effects results in an estimate of the total contribution of the horse industry to the U.S. economy of $122 billion, and a total employment impact of 1.7 million jobs.

In California, the horse industry directly contributes over $4.5 billion to the state’s economy, along with 77,703 jobs.
Direct Contribution to GDP: $4.5 billion
Direct Employment Impact: 77,703 Jobs

From those direct effects, the horse industry’s contribution ripples out into other sectors of the economy. Adding these ripple effects— termed indirect and induced effects in economic jargon—results in an estimate of the total contribution of the horse industry to the California economy of $8.3 billion.
Total Value Added to the California Economy: $8.3 billion
Total Employment Impact: 115,474 Jobs