Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs has offered a ringing endorsement of the proposed Center for Equine Business Studies (CEBS) at Texas A&M University.

In a recent letter to College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Vice Chancellor Elsa Murano, PhD, Combs noted that she has been a strong proponent of the Texas horse industry, which has the highest population of horses in the United States, and recognizes its economic impact to the state. Even more importantly, she said the Texas horse market would serve as excellent proving ground for the Center.

“Texas would serve as a superb example to the nation in demonstrating the value of learning more about the horse livestock and related industries,” Combs said. “Most importantly, our horse owners would be better served by a more knowledgeable infrastructure of associations, businesses, and governments, who would use the information produced by the Center to become more effective decision makers.”

Already endorsed by the American Quarter Horse Association, American Association of Equine Practitioners, Equibrand Corporation, Wrangler, the American Paint Horse Association, and many others, the Center is slated to be operational in 2007 and will include an internationally recognized staff of agricultural economists who are concerned with improving the economic rationality of decisions made within the many sectors of the nationwide horse industry