No one in Kentucky knows exactly how many horses or farms make up what is now the state’s number one agricultural industry, but the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, in partnership with some of the state’s equine leaders, hopes to change that.

At a recent KDA-sponsored equine summit, participants took the first steps toward commissioning an economic impact study to collect statistics that could quantify the scope of the horse industry.

“The secret is out,” said Billy Ray Smith, the state commissioner of agriculture. “It’s the largest industry in our state. For a long time tobacco was number one, but now it is number three. We want to see what we can do to enhance the equine industry.”

Without specific numbers, particularly dollar figures, members of the equine industry have a hard time lobbying state representatives for changes in legislation or funding because they can’t back up evidence of their contributions