Betting on horse racing in SC? Lawmakers studying billion-dollar equine industry Maayan Schechter, The State (Columbia, S.C.) Jul. 11—COLUMBIA, S.C. — Fewer than 80,000 of the nation's horses live in South Carolina but account for a nearly $2 billion-a-year impact for the state. Now, South Carolina lawmakers are wading into how the state can leverage that industry that stretches throughout many of the state's 46 counties, and they are looking for ways to delete barriers that would ultimately stop that industry from growing. For some lawmakers, that doesn't stop at better p...