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Two Lane Livin' Your Horse
Country Column archives...
May 2010 -
West Virginia
is Your Horse Country!
Written by Dawna B. Smith, Journalist and Reporter, writer of the monthly "Your Horse Country" column for
Two Lane Livin' Magazine
Several years ago when gas was
almost $4 per gallon, three Kentucky Conner High School students, decided
it was cheaper to ride their horses to school than to drive their gas
guzzling pick-up trucks. They
made national news. Would the
world have listened better if the media had announced that “Horses
aren’t just hay burners but are valued community members and expeditious
compost makers”?
WVU Extension Service and WVU
Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry, & Consumer Science conducted
the WV Equine Economic Impact Study, an evaluation of the impact of the
Equine Industry on WV’s economy. The study proved that horses do BRING
money into WV, and how they can help improve our economy and quality of
living! Visit www.yourhorsecountry.com
to read the complete study.
WV hay burners earn their keep,
plus provide their communities with not just EquiTourism dollars, but up
to $509.641 million dollars in total industry output.
Thank you Lori Howard, founder of the WV Horse Expo, for
coining the term “EquiTourism”. I’m
sure that EquiTourism will soon find its way into Wikipedia and Google,
and want the record to reflect how the term was derived.
The Impact Study listed several
things we should consider (items in
bold)
•
“There is a lack of adequate facilities for horse showing events.”
We don’t have the
infrastructure necessary to host large revenue generating events, such as
the World Equestrian Games which will be held in
Kentucky
for 16 days starting 9/25/10 to 10/10/10.
(http://www.alltechfeigames.com).
Their last event had
an estimated 570,000 spectators. Can
you imagine the economic impact if we hosted the Equestrian Games, or
other ongoing major horse events? It
would be similar to the oil reserve checks that Alaskan residents receive
every year just for living there!
•
“….. further development of the
West Virginia
Equine industry could attract affluent retirees.”
Our Equine industry helps fund
over 12,924 jobs (1.5% of all jobs), and represents labor income of over
$102 million. Here’s
the kicker. Out of state
customers accounted for 46.3% of market value!
Yet few Equine businesses reported major tourist marketing efforts,
and many failed to partner with other businesses which could have
significantly increased the economic impact of our state.
What caused this? In
these poor economic times, what can help bring us together?
HORSES!
We know that horse lovers can
accomplish their hearts’ desires by banding together. Your Horse Country
is “The Hoof Beat of AmericaTM”, and the “beat” starts
here! We want our beautiful
hills to resonate with the sound of happy and healthy hoof beats, followed
by the lovely sound of “ka-ching” as “out-of-state” money hits WV
cash registers.
Your Horse Country looks forward
to providing helpful Equine resource information (health issues, show
events, answer questions), as well as insight to WV’s horse community.
This includes advocating the importance of our Equine industry to
legislature, increasing tourism awareness to Equine events, and helping
grow WV’s horse community.
Your Horse Country is the Hoof
Beat of AmericaTM and the “beat” begins in
West Virginia! Happy Trails!
BIO:
Dawna Smith writes the monthly
column "Your Horse Country" for Two
Lane Livin' Magazine, based in West Virginia, as well as numerous
articles regarding pain related medical issues for www.LivePainFreeNow.com.
A photographer and free lance writer, her op-ed articles have been
published regarding a variety of subjects. She and her husband have been
strong advocates for the elderly and disabled since 1998, and formed the
non-profit HEADINGS (helping elderly and disabled in need gain support) to
help ensure that legislature, Department of Health and Human Resources,
and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid heard their voices. She
can be reached at dawna @ yourhorsecountry.com 304-765-0490.
Written by
Dawna B. Smith, Journalist/Reporter and writer of the monthly "Your
Horse Country" column for Two
Lane Livin' Magazine
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