Horse News & Views - September 2007

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Association of Equine Practitioners

• Results of the 2006 Census of Agriculture are now available. Horse numbers are up a whopping 16.7% since the previous 2001 Census and 28% in the past 10 years. Previous research by Wright and Cation in 1996 indicates that the Census of Agriculture underestimates the actual number of horses in Ontario by a factor of approximately 3.9. This would translate to an increase in the number of horses in Ontario of approximately 54,000 horses over the past four years. Ontario's horse population is estimated at 379,412.

  The counties with the highest horse population, in descending order, are:

  County or Regional Municipality	Estimated Number of Horses 2001	Estimated Number of Horses 2006	% change
  Wellington County	18,293	27,530	+50.5%
  Grey County	14,005	21,754	+55.3%
  Simcoe County	14,581	19,516	+33.8%
  Durham Regional Municipality	18,341	18,147	-1.1%
  Waterloo Regional Municipality	15,017	17,636	+17.4%
  York Regional Municipality	19,544	16,735	-14.4%
  Middlesex County	17,152	16,684	-2.7%
  Bruce County	9,546	13,549	+41.9%
  Huron County	8,171	12,890	+57.8%
  Perth County	9,430	12,780	+35.5%

Related Links

• Agricultural Statistics for Ontario
• Summary tables (horses and ponies) for the 2006 Census

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