According to a report DeLoitte Consulting, LLP, prepared for the American Horse Council in 2005, there are over 9 million horses in the United States and 2 million horse owners. An additional 2.6 million volunteers, participants or employees are involved with horses in other ways.

The direct impact of the horse industry on the gross domestic product (GDP) is $39 billion. However, that figure swells to $102 billion when suppliers and their employees are included. In addition, the horse industry directly employs more than 700,000 full- and part-time people. Its greatest impact is in rural communities because over 70% of horse owners live in communities that have fewer than 50,000 residents.

The American Horse Council provided the information above and it is used with its permission.

Visit their website at www.horsecouncil.org for more information.

Horses must be taken seriously. They are not toys. They are large animals capable of causing major damage to property and injury to people. Significant exposures to loss arise when enterprises provide horses to their customers.

In addition, some horses are extremely valuable. Winning racehorses are obviously valuable during their racing years. but may be even more so in retirement for stud and breeding purposes. Keeping horses from being injured as well as from injuring others requires expert risk management and effective supervision.

Here is a possible scenario:

Fancy Foot Horse Farm is proud of its equine tradition. In addition to its stable of owned equestrian horses, it boards and trains horses for others. It also offers classes in equestrian riding and has both inside and outside show and training arenas. Other sources of revenue are tours of the facility and supervised rides.

A family touring the facility had its young son participate in a supervised ride. Something in the adjoining arena distracted the horse; it became agitated, and broke free from its handler. Both the horse and the boy panicked and he was injured by a hard landing after the horse bucked him off. The horse then turned on the parents and injured them as they attempted to rescue the child before returning to its barn.

The equine market extends to personal, commercial, and farm/ranch lines of insurance. Risk managers must consider the property value of these animals, including their loss of use and veterinary expenses, as well as the liability exposures they present.

Both admitted and nonadmitted carriers provide this coverage. Travelers, American Bankers, American Reliable, Diamond States, Colorado Casualty, American Equine Insurance Group, Great American, Travelers, Hartford, and Praetorian are just some of the admitted carriers. Various Lloyd’s underwriters provide coverage on a nonadmitted basis.

The wide variety of exposures means that most managing general agents and brokers specialize. Our five experts represent companies with similar but distinct appetites.

Chris Marnitz, president of Marnitz & Associates Insurance, Inc., states that they write consumer-related farm risks for owners, trainers, breeders, boarders and teaching facilities. Jessica Craig, program manager at First Flight Insurance Group, Inc., writes boarding/breeding/training with incidental sales, carriage/sleigh rides, pony rides, riding clubs, riding instructions/lessons, care, custody and control, horse shows, owned pleasure and show horses, private horse liability, and owned race horses not being raced or trained.

Grace Cunningham, managing underwriter at R.B. Jones writes guided trail rides, pleasure/show horses, parade participation, wagon/sleigh/carriage rides, pony rides, riding instruction and lessons, care, custody and control coverage for horses, riding clubs, incidental horse sales, and horse boarding/breeding/training with incidental farrier coverages, in addition to spectator coverage for rodeos, races, horse shows, and exhibitions.

Brent Allen, president of The Equestrian Group, states that they write farm packages, commercial equine liability, personal horse owners, care, custody and control, bloodstock, equine mortality, and automobile. Mark D. Fredricksen, vice president of Mark D. Fredricksen Insurance Services, says they handle virtually all types of equine and equestrian risks, including every variation of mortality coverage, farm/ranch packages, and liability coverages associated with those exposures.

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