An Investigation Into Equine Daily Use Values and the Impacts of Equine Competitions

If a horse contracts a disease, it proves costly to the individual financially responsible for the horse both in the direct cost of treatment and indirectly in the value of use lost should the horse require rest from physical work (riding, training, driving). This study aimed to estimate the daily use value an equine owner places on their horse both when an equine event was approaching and when there was no planned event. Results of the interval regression indicate an average willingness to pay of $4.14 (P < .01) more per day to avoid a day of lost use when an equine event was approaching in 21 days. Additional differences among daily use values exist for respondents in different household income categories. Daily use was found to increase by $0.19 (P < .05) per day when a respondent traveled more than 250 miles from their residence to participate in an equine event.