The Equestrian Advantage: Why More Private Clubs Are Putting Horses Back on the Property

Many clubs have a golf story. Fewer have a horse story, and that is starting to look like an opening.

Equestrian programs are among the most demanding amenities a private club can run. They require land, daily labor, insurance, and real expertise. They are also among the most distinctive. In an era when members can find a good tee time, a good dinner and a good gym almost anywhere, a working stable offers something harder to copy. This piece looks at what equestrian programs do for a club, what the data says about interest in the sport, and what boards and GMs should weigh before saddling up.

What an Equestrian Program Actually Looks Like

There is no single model. Private club equestrian programs run from a modest trail-riding stable to a full competition facility, and the right fit depends on acreage, climate and membership.

Six clubs recently featured in Palomino County Magazine’s Fall/Winter 2026 equestrian roundup show the range:

• Santa Lucia Preserve (Carmel, CA): a multi-discipline equestrian center and nearly 100 miles of riding trails across a 20,000-acre property, about 90 percent of it protected land.
• The Ranch at Rock Creek (Montana): a working-ranch stable with more than 70 horses, private lessons, cattle work and all-day backcountry rides.
• The Ford Field & River Club (near Savannah, GA): equestrian facilities and riding trails across 1,800 acres of Lowcountry marsh and tidewater.
• Seabrook Island Club (near Charleston, SC): a 22-acre equestrian center with trail, beach and pony rides, plus an unmounted horse program called Horse Code and rare Carolina Marsh Tackies.
• Promontory Club (Park City, UT): an equestrian center on 7,200 acres.
• The Club at Las Campanas (Santa Fe, NM): a full equestrian center with rides into high-desert pinyón country.

Notice what these programs have in common. None of them depends on competition results. Each one is tied to the land the club already controls and the story the club already tells. Seabrook’s unmounted program is a useful reminder that a horse program does not have to be about riders at all. Members who would never mount up still come to groom, walk and learn.

The Interest Is Real

It is tempting to say equestrian is booming and leave it there. The data is more interesting than that, and members and boards will trust you more if you cite it carefully.

The economic footprint is large and growing. The American Horse Council’s 2023 Economic Impact Study puts the U.S. equine industry’s total value added at $177 billion, supporting 2.2 million jobs. Reporting on the study’s release noted that figure was up from $122 billion in 2017, a gain of roughly 45 percent. Value added is a GDP-style measure, not gross sales, so it should not be compared with club revenue.

More people are competing. US Equestrian, the sport’s national governing body, reported that its competing membership grew 8 percent to 83,000 in the 2024 competition year, and that members and fans combined passed 500,000.

Ownership is getting younger. About 2 million U.S. households own horses, according to the American Pet Products Association’s 2025 report. Trade coverage of that report found that millennials now account for 39 percent of horse owners, up 15 percent from 2023. That is the age group private clubs are working hardest to recruit, and owning a horse alone is expensive and time consuming, which is exactly the problem a club stable solves.

The next generation is showing up. The Interscholastic Equestrian Association, which organizes middle and high school riding teams, reported 14,920 active members in its 2023-24 season, its 20th membership record. IEA describes youth growth as a steady 3 to 4 percent. Those riders are tomorrow’s members and the children of today’s members. A club that offers a pathway for families, from pony rides to lessons, is investing in a long membership cycle.

One honest limit: we looked for hard, independent figures on equestrian real estate demand and did not find a credible national dataset, only broker commentary. We have left that out rather than guess. If your club or developer has its own sales data on lots with equestrian access, that is a far more persuasive number than anything we could quote.

How Many Private Clubs Offer It?

There is no national census of private club amenities, so we built a count. Private Club Marketing scanned the websites of the roughly 11,000 private clubs and club communities in our database whose sites we could reach, then reviewed every match by hand. At least 60 advertise an on-site equestrian program, led by California and South Carolina. Most of them are golf clubs that added horses to the land they already had.

Treat that as a floor, not a total. Many clubs do not list every amenity online, and our scan missed some clubs we know have stables. Even so, the conclusion holds: only a small fraction of private clubs offer horses at all.

Equestrian remains a specialized offering, found mostly where a club controls real acreage. That scarcity is the point. A club with a real stable stands out in a way that a fourth pickleball court does not.

Why Members Care

The appeal is partly emotional and partly practical. Zack Bates, CEO of Private Club Marketing, who brings 20+ years in and with top private clubs, puts it this way:

“You can tell everything about a private club by how it keeps its horses. Anyone can build a clubhouse, but an equestrian program is a daily promise: to the land, to craftsmanship, and to a pace of life that can’t be faked.”

He makes a related point about time. In his words:

“The horse is the last great luxury, because it can’t be expedited. In an age of instant everything, an equestrian club offers the one thing affluence can no longer buy more of: time, patience, and the quiet mastery that comes only with both.”

That instinct fits a wider shift Zack described in Palomino County’s look at the private club renaissance: members are looking less for exclusivity and more for a place where they are known and where belonging lasts for decades. A stable, with its daily rhythms and familiar faces, delivers that more naturally than almost any other amenity.

Practical Takeaways for GMs, Boards and Marketing Directors

1. Start with the land, not the trend

An equestrian program only works if the acreage, drainage, trail access and neighbors support it. Do a frank feasibility review before the first board presentation. Include insurance, staffing, manure and water management, and the realistic cost per member served.

2. Decide whether it is a program or a promise

Some clubs run a full competition barn. Others offer guided trail rides and a small lesson string. Both can work. What fails is a stable that is marketed as a flagship and run as an afterthought. Members can tell.

3. Build the family on-ramp

Youth participation is the healthiest part of the sport’s data. Pony rides, junior lessons and unmounted programs bring in children and non-riding spouses, and they create reasons to visit that are not tied to a tee time.

4. Use it in real estate marketing, with proof

For club communities with lots or homes to sell, trails and a stable can become a differentiator in listing copy, photography and tours. Show the barn at 7 a.m., the trail at golden hour, and a resident talking about their daily routine. Track which leads ask about equestrian, and use that as your own evidence rather than leaning on unsourced market claims.

5. Tell the story where buyers and members look

Equestrian is visual and rich in stories, which makes it strong content. Earned media works well here: the six clubs above were placed in a national equestrian roundup, which gives them a third-party credential no brochure can match. Add a dedicated equestrian page, searchable amenity data on your website, and short video of the horses and the people who care for them.

6. Measure it

Track participation, waitlists, family retention and lead source. If the program helps retain families and attract new ones, the numbers will show it, and that is what a board needs to renew the investment.

The Bottom Line

Equestrian will never be the largest amenity at a private club, and it should not try to be. The data points to an industry that is economically larger than it was, a youth pipeline that keeps setting records, and a new generation of owners who are younger than the sport’s reputation. For clubs with the land and the commitment, a horse program is one of the few amenities that makes a club feel like itself and not like everyone else. For the rest, it is a useful reminder to ask what your club has that nobody else can copy.

Sources

• American Horse Council, “American Horse Council & AHC Foundation Announce Economic Impact Study Milestone,” April 24, 2025: horsecouncil.org ($177 billion value added, 2.2 million jobs).
• Horse Canada (Kim Izzo), “American Equine Economic Impact Survey,” March 5, 2024, reporting the AHC release: horse-canada.com ($122 billion in 2017).
• US Equestrian, “US Equestrian Unveils New Strategic Plan Highlights During 2025 Annual Meeting,” January 27, 2025: usef.org (competing membership up 8 percent to 83,000; members and fans past 500,000).
• American Pet Products Association, 2025 Bird, Small Animal & Horse Report release, December 3, 2025: americanpetproducts.org (2 million households own horses).
• Pet Food Industry, “Report: Gen Z drives bird, small animal ownership growth,” on the APPA report: petfoodindustry.com (millennials 39 percent of horse owners, up 15 percent from 2023).
• Private Club Marketing website scan, October 2026: about 11,000 reachable club websites from PCM’s database, keyword matched for on-site equestrian facilities, every match reviewed by hand (60 to 80 verified, 54 in the U.S.).
• Interscholastic Equestrian Association via American Horse Publications, “IEA Breaks Membership Record Again,” January 4, 2024: americanhorsepubs.org (14,920 active members, 20th record, 3 to 4 percent youth growth).
• Palomino County Magazine, FW26 equestrian roundup: palomino-county.com/post/SaddleUp.
• Palomino County Magazine, “The Private Club Renaissance”: palomino-county.com/post/ThePrivateClubRenaissance.
• The roughly 45 percent growth figure is PCM’s calculation from the two AHC value-added figures ($177 billion / $122 billion).