One of the worst droughts in recent years is stretching on for horse owners in Texas, Oklahoma, and other Southern states: The U.S. Drought Monitor indicates that most areas of of Texas and Oklahoma are now enduring "exceptional" (D4, the most severe rating) drought, and parts of New Mexico and Kansas are also dealing with such conditions.

"Texas conditions continue to deteriorate what little they can from abysmal," reported the U.S. Drought Monitor said Sept. 13. "The lack of tropical activity (Tropical Storm Nate fizzled out and drifted into Mexico well to the south this week) and better odds of a second consecutive La Niña winter only add fuel to this well-fed and entrenched drought."

Further, a Sept. 15 report from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center indicates that drought conditions in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and the surrounding states are expected to "persist or intensify" through Dec. 31 of this year.

A report from MSNBC estimates that since the drought began it has caused more than $5 billion in losses just in the agriculture industry, and Agriculture.com relayed that more than 84% of Texas cattle ranchers have reduced the size of their herds to deal with the drought