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Demographics of Australian horses: results from an internet-based survey GB Smyth* and K Dagley

Objective To obtain information on the types of Australian horses, how they are kept and their activities. Methods An invitation to participate in an opt-in, internetbased survey was sent to 7000 people who had registered an email address to receive information from the Australian Horse Industry Council Inc. Results There were 3377 (48%) useable responses from owners of 26,548 horses. Most horses were kept on small properties (usually 2–8 ha) in paddocks in rural areas of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Most horses were female or geldings and the most common of 54 different activities was breeding. Owners reported 19,291 horses were used in different activities and 6037 (23%) horses were not kept for any stated purpose or activity. Owners used an average of 1.95 horses in 2.9 different types of activities. The most common of the 43 breeds were Thoroughbred, Australian Stock Horse and Australian Quarter Horse. Only 1% of the total numbers of Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds in this survey were used in horse racing, indicating there is a demand for these breeds in non-racing activities. Microchip was the most favoured method of horse identification and 36% favoured compulsory registration of horses. Most respondents reported owning some other animal species. Conclusions There is a wide variation in horse breeds used in different activities by Australian horse owners. There are regional differences in various management systems. There needs to be considerable improvement in the collection and recording of information to improve the validity and reliability of horse industry data. Keywords Australia; demographics; horses; surveys Abbreviations ABS, Australian Bureau of Statistics; ACT, Australian Capital Territory; AHIC, Australian Horse Industry Council Incorporated; ASC, Australian Sports Commission; AQH, Australian Quarter Horse; ASH, Australian Stock Horse; HECD, Horse Emergency Contact Database; NSW, New South Wales; NT, Northern Territory; TB, Thoroughbred; QLD, Queensland; SA, South Australia; TAS, Tasmania; VIC, Victoria; WA, Western Australia Aust Vet J 2016;94:52–59

doi: 10.1111/avj.12411

H

orses are not native to Australia and were initially imported from South Africa with the First Fleet in 1788.1 Since then, numbers have expanded greatly and there are thought to be approximately 1 million domesticated horses and sev*Corresponding author: Essendon, Victoria, Australia; [email protected] Australian Horse Industry Council Inc., Geelong, Victoria, Australia

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Australian Veterinary Journal Volume 94, No 3, March 2016

eral hundred thousand feral horses in Australia today.2 Domesticated horses generally are regarded as part of the horse racing industries (Thoroughbred or Standardbred horses registered with controlling bodies) and all other horses that are used for a variety of other purposes including competitive and recreational activities. The Australian horse industry is thought to generate A$5–7 billion of economic activity annually, or approximately 0.5% of gross domestic product.3 There appear to be few published data on the demographics of Australian horses.4 Registration of horses is compulsory only for horse racing and some competitive events or breed societies. Identification is not universally required and there is no national database. Many of the databases kept by different organisations are not current and there is no coordination of data between the holders of the data. Many individual horses are recorded separately in a variety of different places, which complicates efforts to gain an idea of the true numbers of horses in Australia. Recording of horse details is not a universal feature of horse organisation databases; some organisations record details of horses and not owners, and some record details of participants and not horses. Current demographic data on Australian horses have been derived from small numbers of participants.5–7 In an effort to gain a greater insight to the demographics of Australian domesticated horses, we undertook an internet-based opt-in survey of persons in the horse industry who had registered contact details to receive information from the Australian Horse Industry Council Incorporated (AHIC). Results of the demographics of the respondents to the survey have been published previously.8 The major purpose of this study was to gain insight into the types of horses owned, where and how they are kept and what they are used for. This information is essential for service providers to the horse industry.

Materials and methods Briefly, an invitation to participate in an internet-based survey was sent to 7000 people who had voluntarily supplied an email address to the Horse Emergency Contact Data base (HECD) of AHIC.8 The purpose of the survey questions was to gain information about the demographics of both the owners and their horses in Australia. In addition to owner details, the survey asked for information on the size of the property where horses were kept, how horses were managed, preferred method of horse identification, whether horse registration should be compulsory, activities undertaken with horses, ownership of other animals and some details of the horses owned.

© 2016 Australian Veterinary Association

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At the completion of the survey, all responses were entered into an Excel spreadsheet for analysis. Results As previously described, there were 3673 total responses, with 3377 that provided useable answers for analysis (response rates 52.5% and 48%, respectively).8 The respondents reported owning 26,548 horses, which is approximately 2.7% of the estimated Australian domesticated horse population of 1 million.2 Percentage responses to some questions did not add to 100 because some respondents did not provide an answer and some questions allowed multiple responses. Breed of horses Respondents reported owning 43 different breeds of horses, in addition to an ‘other’ group and an unknown group for a total of 26,548 horses. Table 1 shows the top 10 breeds present, and Figure 1 shows the numbers of horses in the commonest breed categories. (The details of all the breeds are shown online in Table S1.) The numbers of horses of each breed varied among the different jurisdictions, possibly reflecting different types of horse activities. Sex of horses Overall, the majority of horses owned were reported as mare/filly (13,775, 51%), followed by gelding (4154, 35%), stallion (2399, 9%) and foal (1220, 5%) (Table 2).

Horses used in different horse industry activities The survey allowed for responses to 54 different types of horse industry activity or interest in addition to an ‘other’ choice. There were responses to all 55 categories. Respondents reported 18,827 horses (97.6%) were used in the 54 different specified activities and 464 horses (2.4%) were used for unspecified purposes (Table 3; Figure 2). For more details see online Table S2.

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The survey was available for completion online from 1st to 31st July 2009.

The highest number of responses was for horses used in breeding (16%), followed by showing (9%), dressage (8.7%), recreation (8%) and trail riding (7.6%). Overall, 1% were reported to be used in racing activities. Each horse owner used an average of approximately 1.95 horses in each activity. A total of 19,291 horses were reported to be used in various industry activities or interests. There were 1220 reported as foals; the remaining 6037 horses (23%) were not reported to be used for any purpose or interest. The 3377 respondents reported involvement in a total of 9875 different horse industry-related activities, an average of 2.9 different activities per respondent. There were differences between jurisdictions in the horses used in different activities or areas of interest. The first 10 activities by number are reported in Table 3. Breeding, dressage and showing were the three main uses for horses.

Size of horse property The majority of respondents kept their horses on properties of less than 40 ha in area.

Table 1. Numbers of respondents, numbers of horses and breed popularity according to jurisdiction, and by city or rural location, assessed by postcode of residence

Jurisdiction No. of respondents No. of horses Breed order 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

All respondents

NSW

VIC

QLD

SA

WA

TAS

ACT

NT

City

Rural

3346 26,320

1151 9645

891 6374

687 6542

219 1537

247 1377

65 486

81 350

5 9

926 5172

2420 21,151

ASH Th QH Ar MH W SP WMP ARP P

QH Th Ar ASH MH W S H WMP ARP

Th QH Ar MH SP W WMP ASH MP ARP

ASH QH Th MH Ar W P Ap AA S

ARP Th MH QH Ar SP WMP ASH Ap W

Th Ar ASH QH W SB MH SP WMP P

SP MH Th Ar QH ARP C W Ap WMP

Th AS ASH W QH Ar P AA MH WMP

W QH ASH AA Th WMP

Th MH Ar QH W SP ASH Ap ARP AA

ASH QH Th Ar MH W WMP ARP P Sh / S

AA, Anglo Arab; Ar, Arabian; AS, American Saddlebred; ARP, Australian Riding Pony; ASH, Australian Stock Horse; C, Clydesdale; H, Hackney; MH, Miniature Horse; P, Pinto; QH, Quarter Horse; SB, Standardbred; Th, Thoroughbred; W, Warmblood; WMP, Welsh Mountain Pony. The 31 respondents, owning 228 horses, who did not report a postcode of residence have not been included in Table 1.



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4000 Number of horses

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3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000

Welsh Mountain

Welsh Cob

Warmblood

Unknown breeding

Thoroughbred

Standardbred

Shetland

Quarter Horse

Paint

Other

Miniture Pony

Miniture Horse

Hackney

Australian Stock Horse

Australian RIding Pony

Arabian

Appaloosa

0

Anglo Arab

500

Figure 1. Graph showing the numbers of horses of the most common breeds identified by respondents.

Identified horse breeds

Table 2. Percentage of sex of horses identified in all jurisdictions of Australia

All respondents

ACT

NSW

VIC

QLD

WA

SA

TAS

NT

4.6 51.4 8.9 35.1

3.1 45.3 5.1 46.4

4.4 50.3 9.3 36.0

5.0 50.8 9.8 34.5

5.3 54.0 7.6 33.1

3.5 49.3 8.3 39.0

4.5 51.6 10.1 33.8

3.6 60.9 11.1 24.4

1.6 46.5 5.4 46.5

Foal Mare/filly Stallion/colt Gelding

Table 3. Top 10 different activities identified by respondents for horses in Australia according to jurisdiction, and to city or rural location

Jurisdiction

All respondents

Activity interest order 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Br S Dr R TR A PC CD SJ RC

NSW

VIC

QLD

SA

WA

TAS

ACT

NT

City location

Rural location

Br Dr S TR R A PC CD SJ RC

Br Dr S R TR A RC E PC SJ

Br S TR CD Dr R PC WE HT A

Br S R Dr TR A F PC WE SJ

Br R S A TR F CD WE RC HT

Br TR S R A PC WE SJ RC EI

Dr R TR A Br PC S E RC HT

Dr Br E

Br D R S TR A SJ PC E F

Br S Dr TR R A PC CD RC HT

A, agistment; Br, breeding; CD, camp draft; Dr, dressage; EI, education institute; E, eventing; F, farrier; HT, horse trainer; PC, pony club; R, recreation; RC, riding club; Sh, showing; SJ, show jumping; TR, trail riding; WE, Western events.

Overall, 30% kept horses on properties with an area of 2–8 ha; 29% had properties of 8–40 ha; 22% had properties less than 2 ha; 10% had properties of 40–202 ha and 7% had properties greater than 202 ha (Table 4).

Conditions of keeping horses Horses were kept in a variety of different management systems, but approximately 70% were in a paddock (Table 5). The majority of horses were kept with a rug on in a private paddock (26%), followed by horses without a rug in a group in a paddock (23%) and then horses with a rug in a group in a paddock (22%). The method of

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keeping horses varied considerably among the different states and territories (Table 5). Preferred method of horse identification Use of a microchip was the most favoured way of identifying horses, except in NT and WA where use of a firebrand was the preferred method. DNA profile, freeze brand and a written description were the least favoured (Table 6). There were 39% of respondents preferring use of a microchip, 21% a fire brand, 7% a written description, 5% DNA profile, 2% a freeze brand and 17% supported a variety of other methods not in common use or a combination of the methods outlined.


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3500

2500 2000

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Numner of horses

3000

1500 1000 500 Western events

Trail Riding (recreational)

Stock Horse

Stock control (mustering, drafting)

Showing

Show jumping

Pony Club

Recreational owner

Other

Horse trainer

Riding club (incl pony/adult etc.)

Figure 2. Graph showing the numbers of horses taking part in the most common industry activities identified by respondents.

Farrier

Eventing

Endurance

Dressage

Camp draft

Coaching/instructing

Breeding

Agistment/Spelling

0

Industry interest

Table 4. Horse property size (hectares) by percentage of respondents

Property size (ha)

All respondents

ACT

NSW

VIC

QLD

WA

SA

TAS

NT

22 30.3 28.9 10.4 7

7.2 21.6 26.5 31.3 9.6

22.7 24.9 30.2 11.9 8.3

16.2 35.2 35.4 8.8 3

28.7 28.2 23.5 8.1 10.6

26.2 33.8 19.8 10.5 7.6

17.3 37.7 33.2 8.6 3.2

18.3 29.3 36.6 9.8 4.9

25 46.5 14.3 7.1 7.1

202

Table 5. Percentage of horses kept under each management system

Percentage of horses accommodated by: Stable Own yard with shelter Private paddock unrugged Private paddock rugged Group paddock rugged Group paddock unrugged Other

All respondents

ACT

NSW

VIC

QLD

WA

SA

TAS

NT

9.2 10.8 7.0 25.6 23.3 21.8 2.3

21.2 4.2 5.4 27.2 30.3 10.6 1.2

9.9 9.3 8.2 25.7 23.3 21.1 2.5

6.4 9.4 4.7 33.2 26.9 17.3 2.1

11.2 11.3 9.3 21.2 21.8 23.5 1.8

13.4 10.5 5.8 21.2 15.5 30.8 2.8

14.3 21.4 6.5 18.0 21.1 16.8 1.9

6.9 7.0 4.2 25.0 38.7 13.3 4.9

18.3 32.6 3.3 6.6 17.0 18.8 3.3

Compulsory registration of horses Overall, 64% of respondents did not support compulsory registration of horses. In NT, 74% of respondents did not favour compulsory registration, but this was among only 5 respondents.

79 with reptiles, 243 with sheep, 156 with goats and 613 respondents owned other types of animals. The average numbers of animals owned were 2 dogs, 2 cats, 8 birds, 2 reptiles, 188 sheep, 27 goats or 45 ‘other’ animals.

Greatest support for compulsory registration was from ACT (45%), with 35–38% from NSW, VIC, WA, SA and TAS also in favour of compulsory registration of horses. Least support for compulsory registration was from QLD (32%) and NT (26%) (Table 7).

Sheep were the largest group of other animals by numbers. There were 33 respondents who owned between 100 and 30,000 sheep, with an average number of 1326 each.

Animals owned in addition to horses There was a variety of other animal species owned by respondents. There were 2741 who owned dogs, 1751 with cats, 837 with birds,


Discussion This opt-in, internet-based survey of a convenience sample of 3377 horse owners provided additional information on the demographics


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Preferred method for individual horse identification

All respondents

ACT

NSW

VIC

QLD

WA

SA

TAS

NT

5.3 38.9 2.3 20.9 7.3 17

6 36.1 2.4 19.3 3.6 26.5

5.5 44.4 2.2 17.6 4 17.2

5.2 36.1 2 20.3 10.3 16.9

7 40.1 2.8 19.6 7.9 15.6

1.9 31.8 1.4 34 6.8 16.5

5.9 34.5 2.7 18.6 12.7 19.1

9.8 43.9 3.7 8.5 7.3 15.9

0 25 3.6 35.7 7.1 14.3

DNA testing Microchip Freeze brand Fire brand Written description (e.g. identification papers) Other

Table 7. Percentage of respondents agreeing to compulsory horse identification

Yes No

All respondents

ACT

NSW

VIC

QLD

WA

SA

TAS

NT

36.0 64.0

45.1 54.9

35.4 64.6

37.6 62.4

32.5 67.5

37.8 62.2

37.6 62.4

35.4 64.6

25.9 74.1

of horses in Australia. Most horses owned were female or gelding, were kept in a paddock on a property less than 8 ha and were likely to be Thoroughbred or Australian Stock Horse. Geographic distribution of horses paralleled that of the respondents. Most horses were in rural and regional areas of the three eastern states of QLD, NSW and VIC. An uneven regional distribution of horses has also been noted in other countries.9–12 Horses tended to be kept in small numbers on small land holdings with other animals, mainly dogs and cats. Even though dogs and cats were the most frequent ‘other’ animals kept by horse owners, sheep were the largest by numbers, possibly because of some horses being kept on rural farms where sheep production is a major enterprise. Of the 4071 of the horses that were reported as being Thoroughbred or Standardbred, only 208 (5%) were reported as being used for racing purposes. This indicates a market for horses that are unable to compete in racing or which have retired from a racing career. Results showed that 23% of horses were not kept for any particular purpose and were not used in any horse industry activities. If this is an accurate reflection of the entire horse industry, then approximately 230,000 domesticated horses in Australia (23% of 1 million) are not used for any specific purpose, indicating that large numbers of horses are owned for obscure reasons that were not specified in our survey. Another survey found that 50% of horses in Victoria are never ridden and the most common reasons for owning horses were recreation or as a companion animal.4 A survey of Connecticut horse owners indicated that the three most important reasons for owning horses were companionship, recreation and pride, and the four least important reasons were racing, source of income, work and showing.9 Approximately 14% of horses in Kentucky have been described as ‘idle’ and not kept for any specific purpose.10 The fact that many horse owners keep their horses and incur the associated costs for no specific purpose or as companions provides some additional

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insight into the reasons why many report that owning horses is expensive. Horses tended to be kept on relatively small holdings in more closely settled areas of Australia. These properties tend to be on the better quality agricultural land and were mainly up to approximately 8 ha. This is not the area available for the horse to undertake its natural habit of grazing, because part of the property will be occupied by at least a dwelling, sheds, roads and garden. Horses are comparatively inefficient and selective grazers and under natural conditions require many square kilometres for access to sufficient grasses for nutrition and exercise. Horses cannot be managed at the same stocking rate as other herbivores. These close management systems on small areas increase the cost of keeping horses. There is increased cost of purchasing smaller holdings (small holdings are more expensive on a dollars per hectare basis than larger properties), construction of infrastructure (house, sheds) separately for each property, high cost of establishing and maintaining fencing, need for ongoing supplementary feeding, gathering and disposal of manure, regular pasture management and renovation, and attention to adequate water supply. Associated with all these management tasks is increased labour and time to maintain the necessary regular schedule of property management and maintenance. If we assume that 1 hour per day is spent with horses at A$10 per hour labour cost and we allocate another A$5 per day for feed, horse care and property maintenance, then the 230,000 horses that are kept for no readily apparent purpose or activity are costing their owners approximately A$3.45 million per day or A$1.259 billion annually. It is no surprise, therefore, that in one study 50% of respondents strongly agreed and 28% agreed with the proposition that horses are expensive to keep.4 Furthermore, that survey found that 39% strongly agreed and 34% agreed with the proposition that horses take up a lot of time, and 56% strongly agreed and 27% agreed with the proposition that horses require a great deal of care.4 An additional important factor to consider is the opportunity cost of keeping horses on agricultural land for no apparent specific purpose. If one assumes that most of these 230,000 horses are on properties


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Care is needed when reporting average numbers of horses owned. The majority of owners have one or two horses,4,11,12 but a small number of owners have a large number of horses, occasionally into the hundreds; this potentially causes a considerable skew in the data. Our survey results indicated that a large number of horses are used in recreational or pleasure riding activities, with many owners interacting with their horses daily.8 Approximately 4.8 million Australians aged over 15 years have been estimated to participate in some form of organised exercise weekly, approximately 50,000 of them participating in horse-related activities13 (≈1% of the total). The activities of horse riding, equestrian and polocrosse are 9th on the list of the top 10 regular non-organised activities engaged in weekly by Australians aged over 15 years.13 Approximately 40–45% of horse owners compete with their horses4 and approximately 166,900 persons aged over 15 years participate in various horse industry activities that might be organised or unorganised.13 Combining these two sets of data indicates that there are approximately 370,000–400,000 horse owners in Australia. Horses are often expensive to purchase and can cost considerable amounts in upkeep, depending on the activities undertaken and frequency of participation. For this reason, it would seem prudent to have all horses securely and individually identified, but many horses are not.4,7,10 An AHIC survey in June 2008, towards the end of the equine influenza outbreak, included 1870 respondents from 3200 potential recipients of the invitation to participate, a 58.4% response rate.14 This was approximately 1 week before freedom from equine influenza was declared and 14 weeks after removal of movement restrictions that had been introduced as part of the national control and eradication program. There was high support for the establishment of a national horse database (58.3%), although 22.2% were not in favour and 19.4% were unsure; 43.1% thought that there should be mandatory horse registration but 39.4% were opposed to it. In that survey, microchipping was the most favoured method of horse identification (57.4%), freeze branding 16.6%, written description 10.1%, DNA testing 5.6% and fire branding was preferred by 4.1%. Use of microchips is a very reliable and biocompatible method of identifying horses15–17 and was the most favoured method of horse identification by respondents to our survey. Even though most horses are identifiable, many are not recorded with any horse industry organisation. Implantation of a microchip in horses is becoming a more regulated procedure, though it is currently not a statutory requirement. Where it is regulated, it is compulsory to have the horse and owner details entered into the database of an accredited animal registry. Increased uptake of microchipping horses with statutory oversight will ensure that the data are in an accessible database.


There are some horse industry organisation requirements for microchip identification of horses.18 Registration with organisations is a prerequisite for ability to enter competitions and this has increased the number of horses identified by a microchip in the past 10 years or so. Thoroughbreds must be identified by a microchip as foals. Many Thoroughbreds do not have the athletic ability for a racing career and find their way into the non-racing sector where they are a popular acquisition for various activities. Costs associated with microchipping have already been paid when the Thoroughbred was a foal, thus reducing the cost input for the new owner. In Australia it is compulsory to use only microchips that comply with legislated Australian Standards.18

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in the order of 5 ha, with two horses on each property then they are on an area of approximately 575,000 ha of land that cannot be used for other productive purposes.

Other studies have shown that most horses are identified using various individual or a combination of methods, including fire branding.7,9 There have been concerns raised about the welfare of horses when fire branding is used as a means of identification because it produces a third-degree burn with resultant scarring.15 It has also been found that fire brands can be difficult to read accurately, even for people experienced in identifying horses.16 Fire branding has been banned in legislation in some countries. Many different horse breeds are represented in the Australian horse industry, of which 43 were identified specifically by respondents to our survey. None of these breeds is genetically distinct because they have been derived from various cross-breeding in overseas countries and then imported into Australia, and hundreds of different breeds of horses and ponies are recorded worldwide. It is important to acknowledge that a breed description is based on phenotype thought to be useful to humans rather than any specific genetic analysis or genetic identity.18 Once identified, persistent breeding from these horses leads to derivation of a ‘pure breed’, so that the chosen phenotype can persist according to personal preferences of owners and breeders.18 Today there are very few horse herds worldwide that can be described as having distinct genetics.19–22 There are some Arabian horse herds in the Middle East23,24 and the endangered Przewalski’s horse from eastern Asia and Mongolia25,26 that display unique genetic diversity not found in other horse populations. There appear to be no guidelines or regulations that govern development or definition of what constitutes a breed of horse. It appears that anybody can develop a set of criteria that describes a horse and then provide a name for a new breed. There is also the practice of using one breed of horse as foundation stock for increasing the numbers of an established breed. For example, the modern Thoroughbred has been derived over approximately 300 years by persistently breeding horses derived from crosses between Arabian stallions and non-descript mares in England. Many Thoroughbred horses (among others) have been used as foundation stock for other breeds and once in that role are registered as the ‘new’ breed rather than that of their original breed or genetic background.26 There are limited data on the demographics of Australian horses from other smaller random and opt-in surveys that are similar to our results.4,6,7,14 A survey of membership of some organisations represented on the AHIC Industry Advisory Committee in 2010


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References 1. Carroll B. Beasts of burden. In Coupe S, editor. Frontier country: Australia’s outback heritage. Vol. 2. Weldon Russell Pty Ltd, Willoughby, 1989:12–35. 2. Pilkington M, Wilson G. Australian horses as a primary industry. Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Canberra. 1993. 3. Gordon J. The horse industry contributing to the Australian economy. A report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. Centre for International Economics, Canberra, 2001. 4. Hemsworth LM. The welfare of recreational horses in Victoria: the occurrence of and factors associated with horse welfare. PhD thesis. The University of Melbourne, 2012. 5. Pearson NY. A study of horse ownership and management in Victoria, Australia. Master’s thesis. Institute of Land and Food Resources, The University of Melbourne, 2003. 6. O’Sullivan H. What is the size and scope of the Australian horse industry and what does this mean for infectious disease management? Undergraduate thesis, The University of Western Sydney. A report for the Australian Horse Industry Council Inc., 2010. http://www.horsecouncil.org.au/ahic/index.cfm/topics/ surveys/size-scope-of-the-horse-industry-and-how-it-affects-disease-management/ Accessed January 2014. 7. Clarkson L, Thompson K. Australian horse welfare & well-being survey analysis. Prepared for The Australian Horse Industry Council Inc. The Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, Wayville, 2013.

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8. Smyth GB, Dagley K. Demographics of Australian horse owners: results from an internet-based survey. Aust Vet J 2015;93;433–438. 9. Nadeau J, Shah F. Horses in Connecticut: size and value of the industry. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Connecticut, 2007. http://cthorsepower.uconn.edu/HorsesCT.html. Accessed February 2014. 10. College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The University of Kentucky, 2012 Kentucky equine survey. Lexington, September 2013. http://equine.ca.uky. edu/kyequinesurvey. Accessed February 2014. 11. National Animal Health Monitoring System. Equine 2005. Part I: baseline reference of equine health and management. United States Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, CO, 2006. 12. Boden LA, Parkin TDH, Yates J et al. An online survey of horse-owners in Great Britain. BMC Vet Res 2013;9:188. http://www.biomedcentral.com/17466148/9/188. Accessed December 2015. 13. Australian Sports Commission. Participation in exercise, recreation and sport. Annual Report, 2010. Standing Committee on Recreation and Sport, Canberra, 2011. http://www.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/436122/ ERASS_Report_2010.PDF Accessed July 2013. 14. Australian Horse Industry Council Inc. Future of disease control in the Australian horse industry. AHIC, Geelong, 2008. http://www.horsecouncil.org.au/ ahic/index.cfm/topics/surveys/ahic-future-disease-control-report/ Accessed January 2014. 15. Lindegaard C, Vaabengaard D, Christophersen MT et al. Evaluation of pain and inflammation associated with hot iron branding and microchip transponder injection in horses. Am J Vet Res 2009;70:840–847. 16. Aurich J , Wohlsein P, Wulf M et al. Readability of branding symbols in horses and histomorphological alterations at the branding site. Vet J 2013; 195: 344–349. 17. Wulf M, Wohlsein P, Aurich JE et al Readability and histological biocompatibility of microchip transponders in horses. Vet J 2013;198:103–108. 18. Victoria. State Government. Microchipping and approved Animal Registries. http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/pets/registration-legislation-and-permits/Microchipping-of-Dogs,-Cats-and-Horses. Accessed December 2015. 19. Clutton-Brock J. A natural history of domesticated mammals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999. [Cited by Warmuth V et al. Autosomal genetic diversity in non-breed horses from eastern Eurasia provides insights into historical population movements. Anim Genet 2012;44:53–61.] 20. Warmuth V, Manica A, Eriksson A et al. Autosomal genetic diversity in nonbreed horses from eastern Eurasia provides insights into historical population movements. Anim Genet, 2012;44:53–61. 21. Bjørnstad G, Nilsen N, Røed KH. Genetic relationship between Mongolian and Norwegian horses? Anim Genet 2003;34:55–58. 22. Warmuth V, Eriksson A, Bower MA et al. European domestic horses originated in two Holocene refugia. PLoS One 2011;6:e18194. doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0018194. 23. Khanshour A, Conant E, Juras R et al. Microsatellite analysis of genetic diversity and population structure of Arabian horse populations. J Heredity 2013;104:386-398. 24. Khanshour AM, Cothran EG. Maternal phylogenetic relationships and genetic variation among Arabian horse populations using whole mitochondrial DNA D-loop sequencing. BMC Genetics 2013;14:83. 25. Goto H, Ryder OA, Fisher AR, et al. A massively parallel sequencing approach uncovers ancient origins and high genetic variability of endangered Przewalski’s horses. Genome Biol Evol 2011;3:1096–106. 26. Wallner B, Vogl C, Shukla P et al. Identification of genetic variation on the horse Y chromosome and the tracing of male founder lineages in modern breeds. PLoS One 2013;8:e60015. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0060015. 27. Mellor DJ, Love S, Gettinby G et al. Demographic characteristics of the equine population of northern Britain. Vet Rec 1999;145:299–304. 28. Kilby ER. The demographics of the U.S. equine population. In: Salem DJ, Rowan AN, editors. The state of the animals IV. Humane Society Press, Washington DC, 2007;175–205. 29. Martinson K, Schneider I, Earing J et al. Economic impact and demographics of recreational horse trail users in Minnesota. University of Minnesota, MN Department of Natural Resources, and MN Department of Employment and Economic Development. 2008. http://www.tourism.umn.edu/prod/groups/ cfans/@pub/@cfans/@tourism/documents/asset/cfans_asset_338749.pdf Accessed February 2014. 30. Evens V. 2010 Canadian equine industry profile study: the state of the industry. Chapter 3: People in the industry. Strategic Equine, UK. www.strategicequine.ca Accessed February 2014.


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Supporting information Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article at the publisher’s web-site: http://onlinelibrary. wiley.com/doi/10.1111/avj.12411/suppinfo.

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31. School of Agriculture and Food Science. University College Dublin. Economic contribution of the Sport Horse Industry to the Irish economy. UCD, Dublin, 2012. 32. Robin CA, Wylie CE, Wood JLN et al. Making use of equine population demography for disease control purposes: preliminary observations on the difficulties of counting and locating horses in Great Britain. Equine Vet J 2011;43:372–375. 33. Boden LA, Parkin TDH, Yates J et al. Summary of current knowledge of the size and spatial distribution of the horse population within Great Britain. BMC Vet Res 2012;8:43. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/8/43 Accessed December 2015.

Table S1 and S2 Numbers of horses identified in 43 different breed categories and the industry activities. (Accepted for publication 15 September 2014)

BOOK REVIEW Alphaviruses: current biology., Edited by S Mahalingam, LJ Herrero and BL Herring. Caister Academic Press, Norfolk, UK. 183 pages. Price US$319.00 ISBN 978-1-910190-15-9.

T

he three editors of this book have led a team of 24 scientists engaged in various aspects of research on alphaviruses to produce this up-to-date review of the field. In 183 pages, the 10 concise yet comprehensive chapters cover aspects of these viruses such as genome structure and replication, evolution and phylogenetic relationships, laboratory diagnosis, immunity and pathogenesis (particularly of those alphaviruses causing arthritis or encephalitis), animal models, antiviral responses in both mammals and insect vectors, and application of alphaviruses as vectors in gene therapy. A final chapter is dedicated to chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and the mutations enabling it to replicate and be transmitted in additional insect vector species. This has dramatically extended the geographical range of CHIKV around the world in recent years, causing widespread human disease. Each of the chapters is complemented with an extensive list of references. Alphaviruses are typically transmitted by arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks and mites. The Alphavirus genus within the family Togaviridae contains among its 30-odd species a number of viruses of medical and veterinary interest. Perhaps the most familiar to veterinarians are the equine encephalitis viruses of Central and North America (EEE, WEE and VEE), the so-called New World alphaviruses. Australian veterinarians may also be familiar with some of the Old World alphaviruses such as Ross River virus and its role in arthritic disease in humans and horses. There is little of immediate clinical application covered in this book, as that is almost certainly not its intention. It is, however, successful in providing a thoughtful and critical introduction to the field and in identifying some of the more interesting emerging areas. For example, the early chapters on the replication and evolution of alphaviruses, and the antiviral responses they encounter in mammalian and insect hosts, is an excellent introduction into understanding the viral evolution that is happening


before our eyes. This is particularly so with CHIKV and Venezuelan equine encephalitic virus, as viral mutations affect arthropod host range or virulence and change geographical range or severity of clinical disease. One of the more extensive chapters covers animal models of alphavirus-induced inflammatory disease. Most studies have involved mice and both acute and chronic inflammatory disease has been studied. Infection in horses, hamsters, guinea pigs, birds and non-human primates is also described, both for understanding the inflammatory processes and for vaccine studies. Some alphaviruses, notably Semliki Forest virus, Sindbis virus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, have been successfully manipulated to efficiently express heterologous proteins. This has been applied to drug discovery and, because of their broad host range, to gene therapy and vaccine development. Although this book contains little that might be considered of immediate clinical application for the practising veterinarian, this genus of viruses seems destined to play an increasing role in human and animal health as the viruses continue to mutate and as their vectors, both old and new, extend their ranges courtesy of geographic and climatic changes. Does the book then have value for researchers working directly with these viruses or in related fields? The relatively high price for a slim volume means that there needs to be some value that is met readily by this book over and above a researcher simply taking the time to do a search of the primary literature for themselves. It can be argued that the book does add value by doing much more than just assembling and presenting what can be found in the published literature. It utilises the knowledge and experience of the authors to select, critically evaluate and synthesise the information into a coherent text that summarises current knowledge and points the way to future research opportunities and likely developments with this important group of viruses. It would be a great starting point for a post-graduate student commencing research in this field. CR Wilks Professor Colin Wilks is Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences at The University of Melbourne doi: 10.1111/avj.12392


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