161 Texas 4-H program initiates a tangible opportunity to help at-risk horses

Abstract

Texas continues to have the highest number of horses at approximately 767,100, according to the American Horse Council (2017). This coupled with the ever-growing population of at-risk horses, sometimes referred to as “unwanted” horses, puts Texas in a unique position to develop initiatives to mitigate the abuse, neglect, and abandonment of horses. The grant-funded, Texas 4-H Homes for Horses program launched in 2021 to provide Texas 4-H youth the opportunity to actively help reduce the number of horses at-risk in Texas. 4-H youth were competitively selected to participate with an at-risk horse provided by a select group of Texas adoption partners with guidance of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Right Horse Initiative. Before program start, participants completed a pre-survey and data was analyzed for 2021 and 2022 (n = 24) for descriptive statistics using the means and frequency procedures in SAS 9.4 (Cary, NC). Participants reported that 91% currently owned horses with an average ownership of 4.57 horses and average monthly cost of $276.25 per horse. Program participants were allotted a stipend of $1,000 from the grant to help cover project horse expenses for the duration of the program. Participants reported that the horse expense stipend had little to no influence on their decision to participate in the program (49.5%), whereas 12.5% reported it influenced them a great deal.Overall, 79.5% of the participants reported that they were somewhat to very likely to permanently adopt their project horse following the conclusion of the program, whereas 18.8% actually did adopt their horse at the conclusion of the program in 2021. Four horses were permanently adopted by their 4-H youth and 5 horses were adopted to new homes at the Texas State 4-H Horse Show program finale. Seven horses were returned to adoption partners where on average it took 22.8 d for them to be adopted into a new home, whereas according to the Equine Welfare Data Collective (2022), the average length of stay for horses at adoption facilities across the United States is significantly longer at 210 d. The Humane Society of North Texas (HSNT) reported the initial intake of a horse costs $426 and subsequent care costs $250–400 per horse per month. An annual savings of $44,000–70,400 was perceived by adoption partners by supplying horses for the program. The initiation of this program successfully connected 4-H youth with at-risk horses to demonstrate how youth can be actively involved in helping at-risk horses in Texas while simultaneously helping adoption agencies with the financial burden of intake and care of this population of horses.