Economics of health management in the Michigan, USA equine industry.

Abstract

A study was developed to describe direct expenses, labor use, and performance days lost associated with health management in the Michigan equine industry. A prospective design with stratified, random sampling, was employed involving 77 operations from February 1992 through January 1993, and 61 different operations from May 1993 through April 1994. Data on the cost of health management were collected during monthly visits, and included monetary expenditures, death losses, days lost, and labor use. Median health care costs (when they were incurred) were $4.84 per horse per month for monetary expenditures plus death losses, 0.20 hours per horse per month for labor use, and 0.81 performance days lost per horse per month for therapy and prevention of all diseases combined. There were large variations both within and between specific disease groups, operation-size strata, and months. General linear models indicated that health-management costs (when incurred) were significantly higher (per horse per month) on smaller operations. The only disease group that showed a significant difference between months was respiratory disease. However, these differences did not appear to demonstrate a definitive seasonal pattern. Monetary expenditures and labor use for management of lameness tended to be lower on operations with more riding and showing activities. Also, monetary expenditures to manage lameness tended to be lower on operations with a higher proportion of conditioning activity. Our results are consistent with other studies, and implications for management and future research are discussed.