Horse Racing and Veterinary Practices in New Jersey.

The study explores the diminishing horse racing industry in New Jersey over the past 5 years and its potential impact on veterinary practice revenues and staffing, revealing that these changes had minimal impact on practices involved in the industry but heavily affected those in racehorse breeding.

Research Objective and Methodology

• The primary aim of this research was to study the perceived changes in veterinary practice revenue and staff responses over a span of five years due to the decline in the horse racing industry in the state of New Jersey. The research hypothesized that the dedicated veterinary practices for these activities, were presumably negatively affected.
• To confirm this hypothesis and fulfill the aim, the researchers conducted a survey of members from New Jersey Association of Equine Practitioners. These members were asked to detail their involvement with the horse racing industry and the breeding of racehorses over the years.

Survey Responses and Interpretation

• The response rate for the survey was 49% which might signify that half of the participants were open to share their experience and were concerned about the matter. Among these, 45% of the respondents had a direct involvement with the horse racing industry as a veterinarian.
• Of the respondents, 44% reported they cut down their workforce, 17% maintained their staff number steady, and 39% increased their number of staff due to changes in the horse racing industry over the past five years. This indicated that the situation has not been the same for all practices.
• Lastly, income responses from the practices align closely with staffing changes. The revenue for practices saw a reduction (48%), no change (22%), or boosts (30%). However, for the niche sector of the industry involved with racehorse breeding, it was reported that revenue either decreased (91%) or remained unchanged (9%) over the past five years due to the changes in the horse racing industry.

Conclusions

• As per the survey’s conclusion, the declines in the horse racing industry in New Jersey had a minimal impact on the veterinary practices involved in this sector of the industry over the last five years.
• However, the decline was substantially harsher for the specialized veterinarians and practices involved in racehorse breeding and its related components that observed negative impacts due to the downturn in the horse racing industry.