COVID-19 survey response 'critically important' to Kentucky horsemen

The Kentucky Equine Education Project and the University of Louisville Equine Industry Program jointly announced Monday the release of the COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey.

The survey will be shared with employers throughout Kentucky's horse industry and community to capture the effects of the pandemic on the Commonwealth's signature industry. 

Survey participants will not be identified in the published results.

"We are proud to be partnering with KEEP in developing this important survey," said Sean Beirne, Director of the Equine Industry Program. "COVID-19 is impacting every facet of the equine industry in the Commonwealth and our hope is to dissect this data to provide a thorough economic overview to governmental decision makers."

Elisabeth Jensen, KEEP's Executive Vice President who oversees the daily operations of the organization, added: "Kentucky's horse industry has 35,000 individual operations. These businesses provide nearly 80,000 jobs in Kentucky and have a $3.4 billion economic impact on the state - and that does not include tourism generated by the industry.

"It is critically important that employers across the industry participate in the COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey to provide an accurate depiction of the effects of the pandemic on the industry and how the governmental responses so far have helped or have failed to help these businesses."