U.S. equine industry news
USDA Launches First National Equine Health Study Since 2015
USDA is beginning a nationwide study of horse health and management practices, contacting randomly selected equine operations in all 50 states for the first federal study of its kind since 2015.
By Jon Conklin | Published July 24, 2026 | Updated July 24, 2026
What changed
On July 21, 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and National Agricultural Statistics Service will launch the 2026 National Animal Health Monitoring System Equine Study. Selected operations are receiving questionnaires in July, and data collection begins in August.
The study is national, voluntary, and confidential. It will examine equine care, health-management practices, disease occurrence, veterinary-service use, and issues affecting at-risk horses or equines moving between jobs or homes.
Why this matters now
The last major NAHMS equine study was conducted in 2015. USDA also completed equine studies in 1998 and 2005, making the 2026 effort a new national baseline after more than a decade without one.
That gap matters because the horse industry cannot make good decisions on anecdotes alone. Veterinary access, biosecurity, disease planning, welfare needs, workforce pressures, care costs, and the transition of horses between competition, work, retirement, rescue, and new ownership all compete for attention. A credible national dataset can show which problems are widespread, which practices are changing, and where education or resources are most needed.
Draw It Out® analysis: the value is not that Washington will tell individual owners how to care for a horse. The value is that owners, veterinarians, associations, researchers, rescue groups, retailers, and policymakers can argue from a shared baseline instead of whoever has the loudest story.
Who may receive the questionnaire
USDA says Phase I includes randomly selected operations in all 50 states that have five or more equids. Selected owners began receiving questionnaires by mail in July. The survey can be completed on paper, online, by telephone, or through an in-person interview with a NASS enumerator.
Selection is not limited to one breed, discipline, or type of operation. The national design is intended to reflect the breadth of American equine management, from working and competition barns to breeding, boarding, recreational, transition, and other operations that meet the study criteria.
Important: Participation is voluntary. USDA states that respondent identities and farm information are legally protected, used only for statistical purposes, and reported only in aggregate. Individual names and operation-level answers are not published.
What selected horse owners should do
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Do not throw the packet away as junk mail. Read the sender information and instructions carefully.
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Verify it through USDA. Use the official NASS respondent portal or the contact information on the USDA NAHMS pages if you are uncertain whether a mailing is legitimate.
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Choose the response method that fits the operation. Paper, online, telephone, and in-person options are available.
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Answer from records when possible. Barn counts, veterinary visits, disease events, management practices, and horse transitions are more useful when they come from actual records instead of memory alone.
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Complete it on time. A survey that represents only the easiest operations to reach will leave blind spots. Broad participation is what makes the findings useful.
Owners who want to check possible eligibility can use the official NASS Respondent Portal. Questions about the study can also be directed to the NAHMS contact listed by USDA.
What the study is expected to cover
Health and disease
Disease occurrence, prevention, management practices, and the health issues affecting U.S. equine operations.
Veterinary services
How operations use veterinary care and where access or management patterns may differ.
Everyday management
The routines, facilities, records, and decision-making practices used across different kinds of horse operations.
At-risk and transitioning equines
Issues affecting horses and other equids that are vulnerable or moving between vocational roles, homes, or stages of life.
USDA's equine-study page also notes that a planned Phase II, involving event questionnaires and biological sampling, is postponed pending resource availability. That boundary matters: the confirmed 2026 launch is the nationwide Phase I operation survey.
What this study does not do
- It does not replace a veterinarian, diagnostic testing, or individual herd-health planning.
- It does not create a public list of participating barns or reveal operation-level answers.
- It does not mean every horse owner will receive a questionnaire.
- It is not a disease-reporting channel. Suspected reportable disease still belongs with a veterinarian and the appropriate animal-health officials.
- It is not a product endorsement or commercial program.
Why everyday operations should be represented
National studies become distorted when only the biggest, most polished, or most professionally staffed operations respond. The real horse industry also lives in family barns, ranch programs, lesson facilities, small breeders, rodeo and show operations, boarding barns, retirement settings, and owners doing the daily work themselves.
If selected, participating is a chance to make those realities count. Honest answers about what is working, what is difficult, and where care breaks down are more valuable than trying to make an operation look perfect.
For individual care planning, use the Horse Health Library as the evergreen education hub and the Horse Care by Event Type guide to adapt routines to the job a horse actually does. Those resources serve day-to-day decisions; this USDA study serves the larger industry picture.
Commercial disclosure: Draw It Out® sells horse-care products. No product is recommended in this article, and participation in the USDA study has no connection to any purchase.
The bottom line
The 2026 NAHMS Equine Study is consequential because it will create the first new federal snapshot of U.S. equine health and management since 2015. If a legitimate USDA questionnaire reaches your operation, verify it, answer it carefully, and return it. Better representation gives the whole horse industry better evidence for the next decade of decisions.
