How common are “horse experiences” with Americans?
November 6, 2025
How common are "horse experiences" (transportation, riding, petting, tourist experiences, owning, knowing someone who owns a horse, etc.) in America? What are your experiences with horses? lol
29 comments
This will vary immensely with what part of the country you’re in
Not common on the East Coast. However, there are some farms that raise high-priced horses near where I live.
I would say if you wanted to find one you probably could very close. If you never want to see one again, you probably could do that too.
Very uncommon for the vast majority of americans. Very common for some. I live in an county with more cattle than humans and even here at least 90% of people have no horse experience, and I would bet were WAY on the high end of the percentage with horse experience. Personally I have owned many rescue horses in the past, my mom made her living winning rodeos, and my wife rode. Cant afford horses anymore though, its WAY too expensive. Its doubled in cost in 5 years.
The average American doesn’t have frequent encounters with horses. We may see them in fields if we drive through a somewhat rural area, and we will see them in parades occasionally.
Depends on where you live. I happen to know several people who own horses. I have ridden a horse, and know people who do regularly. I grew up around them in general, though I wouldn’t consider myself a horseman by any means. But I grew up in a fairly rural area with a lot of farmland. If you live in an apartment in a big city I imagine it’s much less common, for obvious reasons.
Well, I grew up in the Northeast of the USA. There are a decent number of horse owners around where I grew up in Massachusetts and where I now live in Southern NH. Horse properties are not uncommon.
There was some reserved land that ran behind my mom’s house for power lines that had a trail running through it for repair access and there were some horse properties on the other side of it and so we would also see young girls riding along the access trail if we were out there playing as kids.
A good friend of my mom owned a horse in the next town over from where I grew up, that their daughter would ride and use for 4H stuff. So we would see that horse occasionally.
I also rode some horses a few times at a tourist destination that had guided horse rides into the mountains around the place.
After I got married, my wife and I bought a house in a small town and made friends with a family where the dad’s sister owned a horse training facility and their daughter was taking riding lessons from a young age. We went to watch her compete in dressage once.
There was also a pretty large horse training facility next to my car mechanic’s shop in town. He owned a large property where his house, his wife’s horse barn and training enclosure and his mechanics shop were all located.
More recently, my brother moved to Texas around 10 years ago now owns a horse ranch, so I get to ride a few times a year when I visit.
So while I have never owned horses, I have ended up being around them a fair bit.
There are places where I live to ride horses. My DIL rode last weekend. I haven’t ridden since I was a child. We don’t own horses, but my DIL found a place that lets you ride for a fee. What I found insteresting about that is that this trail-riding place is in the middle of an urban area, a sort of village experience in the middle of a major city.
America is a big place. If you live in a rural community you probably have ridden a horse. Much less likely in midsize or large cities. But there are horses in parades in cites. Sometimes there are mounted police in large cities. Any state or county fair is going to have a lot of horsing around. There are tourist place you can go that are all about riding horses if that is what you’re are looking for.
I grew up seeing horses across the street every day. I rode horses in middle school and high school and in college I worked at a riding stable. I owned horses for my young adult life. I’m middle aged now and still love horses but do not have any nor ride regularly anymore. There used to be some in a pasture near where I live but they sold and now there are houses. 😔
When I was a kid we (my dad and us) raised Tennessee Walkers. My uncle bred some other breed of horse. Lots of horse rides, my parents actually did trails with other horseback riders.
Rural Missouri.
There are some horses around where I live now, but I don’t have any contact with them or their owners.
I grew up in the middle of Los Angeles and would say I saw horses fairly common for being in the city. It wasn’t insane to see horses at petting zoos or ‘open streets’ style events. Also sometimes saw police officers on horseback patrolling tourist areas like Hollywood Blvd. Horses are definitely a big part of (Western) American culture and not that hard to find.
Depends where you are. I grew up kinda between rural and suburban and there was an equestrian center down the road. Definitely pretty common to see horses in rural or semi-rural areas. Knowing people who have horses or ride? Really depends on your social circle.
If I wanted to ride I’d have to seek it out but could do so easily. It would probably be a guided trail ride catering to beginners and cost around $50 for an hour or so ride. I can definitely find something within 1-1.5 hours’ drive, which isn’t far by my standards. I live in central Tennessee.
I live in Alaska and don’t see horses too often, but I know people have them. I grew up mostly in Utah, however, and my Gramps had horses and a mule when I was a kid. We all loved the mule, some of my cousins remember when one of the horses birthed her (I was only an infant.) My grandpa would let us ride either the mule or a horse when we would all be visiting because it was a good way to keep us busy while the adults talked.
We ride them to the grocery store here.
“Here” is rural Northern California.
Just 30 miles South of us, owning horses is a rich person’s hobby.
It also depends on socioeconomic status. I went to a prep school and most of my friends rode horses. But I was middle class so I had a dog lol
(Fortunately I love dogs.)
City boy here. I think the only horse that I’ve ever even touched is one of those Clydesdales from Budweiser at SeaWorld in the olden days.
It totally depends where you live in the states.
I’ve pet a horse maybe twice in my 30+ years of life.
I see them on my way to work everyday because there is a bit of farm land the owner down right refuses to sell to the city. Everything is developed around them and they live right next to a busy road.
Really depends on location. I grew up in Orlando and in the areas surrounding me you could find horses everywhere. Still can in for the most part. Not as common to see them riding down the street. But you can still find them just outside the city. Farther away, about an hour towards the middle of the state is basically nothing but horses.
Relatively normal, you seek them often in rural areas and you’ll even see them somewhat often in the city.
People ride around the city and they’re literally everywhere outside of it.
Midwest suburban here. No one I know owns a horse, but it wasn’t unheard of for girls to get riding lessons at semi-local barns. You’d pretty much never see a horse on the daily unless you’re in Amish country. Pretty common at petting zoos as well (ponies, at least)
I live in NJ, everyone thinks Newark Airport. My backyard neighbors have eight acres and three horses?
I live in a fairly rural area. My parents both grew up with horses, and I got to ride horses a few times when I was very young (with the owner walking in front of the horse to lead it by the reins). Most of my other horse interactions were just at the county fair, where some people allow visitors to pet or feed their horses. They’re still fairly common in the area, so I drive past horse pastures fairly often.
This will vary considerably depending on where in the country you live. I grew up on a relatively small cattle ranch in rural Louisiana (think 7 miles to the nearest small gas station) where at any one time we might have between 200-300 head of cattle, and there were often a few horses around, most of which belonged friends of my parents, and most were older horses that had been “turned out to pasture” to live out their lives, though it was generally rare for any of them to be ridden very often, beyond maybe saddling one to let various small kids to be lead around. Beyond this I have known some people that were / are into having horses, my wife has an uncle and a first cousin that were very into doing trail rides, though I have not seen either of them in years and don’t know if they are still involved in it. The thing is horses can be expensive to keep if you don’t have your own land, barns, etc. Having said that if I think threw with who do I know that has a horse now, I come up with a list of a handful of people, all of which have at least 10-20 acres of land, some have MUCH more.
p.s. having said that I saw something strange a year or so ago, a guy trying to tame a horse in the parking lot of a gas station, in a small town nearby,I think the guy worked there and had the horse tied up to a power pole in the parking lot, as I was pumping gas I saw him trying to climb onto the horse several times, and the horse kept trying to buck him off. Note this horse did not seem to be in very good health, and may have been malnourished,
I live close to the oldest and biggest horse show in America. It attracts a lot of horse people, probably 15-20k over the course of the 2 weeks. I get the vibe not too many casual folks come to it though. I find it pretty fun though and I know nothing about horses.
I had a Shetland pony growing up. His name was Jody.
I thought this comment would be funny because it’s both true and oddly misplaced.
I thought most preteen girls were horse crazy. I was. Surely I am the norm.
In the West there are rodeos and state fairs, where you see many horses.
29 comments
This will vary immensely with what part of the country you’re in
Inner city: pretty rare. Suburbs: fairly common. Rural: guaranteed.
Not common on the East Coast. However, there are some farms that raise high-priced horses near where I live.
I would say if you wanted to find one you probably could very close. If you never want to see one again, you probably could do that too.
Very uncommon for the vast majority of americans. Very common for some. I live in an county with more cattle than humans and even here at least 90% of people have no horse experience, and I would bet were WAY on the high end of the percentage with horse experience. Personally I have owned many rescue horses in the past, my mom made her living winning rodeos, and my wife rode. Cant afford horses anymore though, its WAY too expensive. Its doubled in cost in 5 years.
The average American doesn’t have frequent encounters with horses. We may see them in fields if we drive through a somewhat rural area, and we will see them in parades occasionally.
Depends on where you live. I happen to know several people who own horses. I have ridden a horse, and know people who do regularly. I grew up around them in general, though I wouldn’t consider myself a horseman by any means. But I grew up in a fairly rural area with a lot of farmland. If you live in an apartment in a big city I imagine it’s much less common, for obvious reasons.
Well, I grew up in the Northeast of the USA. There are a decent number of horse owners around where I grew up in Massachusetts and where I now live in Southern NH. Horse properties are not uncommon.
There was some reserved land that ran behind my mom’s house for power lines that had a trail running through it for repair access and there were some horse properties on the other side of it and so we would also see young girls riding along the access trail if we were out there playing as kids.
A good friend of my mom owned a horse in the next town over from where I grew up, that their daughter would ride and use for 4H stuff. So we would see that horse occasionally.
I also rode some horses a few times at a tourist destination that had guided horse rides into the mountains around the place.
After I got married, my wife and I bought a house in a small town and made friends with a family where the dad’s sister owned a horse training facility and their daughter was taking riding lessons from a young age. We went to watch her compete in dressage once.
There was also a pretty large horse training facility next to my car mechanic’s shop in town. He owned a large property where his house, his wife’s horse barn and training enclosure and his mechanics shop were all located.
More recently, my brother moved to Texas around 10 years ago now owns a horse ranch, so I get to ride a few times a year when I visit.
So while I have never owned horses, I have ended up being around them a fair bit.
There are places where I live to ride horses. My DIL rode last weekend. I haven’t ridden since I was a child. We don’t own horses, but my DIL found a place that lets you ride for a fee. What I found insteresting about that is that this trail-riding place is in the middle of an urban area, a sort of village experience in the middle of a major city.
America is a big place. If you live in a rural community you probably have ridden a horse. Much less likely in midsize or large cities. But there are horses in parades in cites. Sometimes there are mounted police in large cities. Any state or county fair is going to have a lot of horsing around. There are tourist place you can go that are all about riding horses if that is what you’re are looking for.
I grew up seeing horses across the street every day. I rode horses in middle school and high school and in college I worked at a riding stable. I owned horses for my young adult life. I’m middle aged now and still love horses but do not have any nor ride regularly anymore. There used to be some in a pasture near where I live but they sold and now there are houses. 😔
When I was a kid we (my dad and us) raised Tennessee Walkers. My uncle bred some other breed of horse. Lots of horse rides, my parents actually did trails with other horseback riders.
Rural Missouri.
There are some horses around where I live now, but I don’t have any contact with them or their owners.
I grew up in the middle of Los Angeles and would say I saw horses fairly common for being in the city. It wasn’t insane to see horses at petting zoos or ‘open streets’ style events. Also sometimes saw police officers on horseback patrolling tourist areas like Hollywood Blvd. Horses are definitely a big part of (Western) American culture and not that hard to find.
Depends where you are. I grew up kinda between rural and suburban and there was an equestrian center down the road. Definitely pretty common to see horses in rural or semi-rural areas. Knowing people who have horses or ride? Really depends on your social circle.
If I wanted to ride I’d have to seek it out but could do so easily. It would probably be a guided trail ride catering to beginners and cost around $50 for an hour or so ride. I can definitely find something within 1-1.5 hours’ drive, which isn’t far by my standards. I live in central Tennessee.
I live in Alaska and don’t see horses too often, but I know people have them. I grew up mostly in Utah, however, and my Gramps had horses and a mule when I was a kid. We all loved the mule, some of my cousins remember when one of the horses birthed her (I was only an infant.) My grandpa would let us ride either the mule or a horse when we would all be visiting because it was a good way to keep us busy while the adults talked.
We ride them to the grocery store here.
“Here” is rural Northern California.
Just 30 miles South of us, owning horses is a rich person’s hobby.
It also depends on socioeconomic status. I went to a prep school and most of my friends rode horses. But I was middle class so I had a dog lol
(Fortunately I love dogs.)
City boy here. I think the only horse that I’ve ever even touched is one of those Clydesdales from Budweiser at SeaWorld in the olden days.
It totally depends where you live in the states.
I’ve pet a horse maybe twice in my 30+ years of life.
I see them on my way to work everyday because there is a bit of farm land the owner down right refuses to sell to the city. Everything is developed around them and they live right next to a busy road.
Really depends on location. I grew up in Orlando and in the areas surrounding me you could find horses everywhere. Still can in for the most part. Not as common to see them riding down the street. But you can still find them just outside the city. Farther away, about an hour towards the middle of the state is basically nothing but horses.
Relatively normal, you seek them often in rural areas and you’ll even see them somewhat often in the city.
People ride around the city and they’re literally everywhere outside of it.
Midwest suburban here. No one I know owns a horse, but it wasn’t unheard of for girls to get riding lessons at semi-local barns. You’d pretty much never see a horse on the daily unless you’re in Amish country. Pretty common at petting zoos as well (ponies, at least)
I live in NJ, everyone thinks Newark Airport. My backyard neighbors have eight acres and three horses?
I live in a fairly rural area. My parents both grew up with horses, and I got to ride horses a few times when I was very young (with the owner walking in front of the horse to lead it by the reins). Most of my other horse interactions were just at the county fair, where some people allow visitors to pet or feed their horses. They’re still fairly common in the area, so I drive past horse pastures fairly often.
This will vary considerably depending on where in the country you live. I grew up on a relatively small cattle ranch in rural Louisiana (think 7 miles to the nearest small gas station) where at any one time we might have between 200-300 head of cattle, and there were often a few horses around, most of which belonged friends of my parents, and most were older horses that had been “turned out to pasture” to live out their lives, though it was generally rare for any of them to be ridden very often, beyond maybe saddling one to let various small kids to be lead around. Beyond this I have known some people that were / are into having horses, my wife has an uncle and a first cousin that were very into doing trail rides, though I have not seen either of them in years and don’t know if they are still involved in it. The thing is horses can be expensive to keep if you don’t have your own land, barns, etc. Having said that if I think threw with who do I know that has a horse now, I come up with a list of a handful of people, all of which have at least 10-20 acres of land, some have MUCH more.
p.s. having said that I saw something strange a year or so ago, a guy trying to tame a horse in the parking lot of a gas station, in a small town nearby,I think the guy worked there and had the horse tied up to a power pole in the parking lot, as I was pumping gas I saw him trying to climb onto the horse several times, and the horse kept trying to buck him off. Note this horse did not seem to be in very good health, and may have been malnourished,
I live close to the oldest and biggest horse show in America. It attracts a lot of horse people, probably 15-20k over the course of the 2 weeks. I get the vibe not too many casual folks come to it though. I find it pretty fun though and I know nothing about horses.
I had a Shetland pony growing up. His name was Jody.
I thought this comment would be funny because it’s both true and oddly misplaced.
I thought most preteen girls were horse crazy. I was. Surely I am the norm.
In the West there are rodeos and state fairs, where you see many horses.