The survey sought stakeholder opinion in the three areas of Enterprise, Recreation and Performance and Education and Research.

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Enterprise

The majority of equestrian businesses in the East Midlands (riding schools, liveries and freelance instructors & trainers) are concerned with providing services to individuals as riders and owners of horses. There are relatively few manufacturers of equestrian related equipment, although a substantial commercial infrastructure exists for the processing and distribution of horse feedstuffs. Additionally, the activities of riding schools and horse owners create a need for networks of veterinary, farriery, dentistry and retail services.

In creating ‘lifestyle’ businesses to support proprietors’ participation with horses, a number of stakeholders have developed their businesses over several years to become local, regional and, in a few cases, national foci for both recreational and competitive riding. Other businesses have alternatively remained local operators, but have grown through diversification of equestrian interests, for example provision of human and horse shiatsu and provision of a home base for local branches of the Pony Club and British Riding Clubs. By far, the majority of stakeholder opinion concerning enterprise focused on the following perceived limitations to business performance and growth:

Market size and disposable income: Much of the horse industry serves leisure needs and the low profile of participative equestrianism amongst the general public limits the scope for generating income from the current relatively small market. Over the past 20 or 30 years, riding has been a relatively low cost activity. However, increasing business costs are tending to force charges for riding lessons and livery beyond perceived reasonable levels. As a result, there is a growing trend for riding school customers to curtail lessons more quickly than in the past, in favour of buying their own horse and keeping it at livery. This has a negative impact on the wider equine business environment through reduced riding school income and a rising demand for livery accommodation based on price rather than quality of provision, safety and welfare.

Farm diversification: Industry stakeholders felt that diversion into equestrian sector activities is being encouraged for policy reasons and taking place without due regard for established livery businesses, quality of provision or rider & horse welfare. Together with statistics considered in the full survey report, stakeholders' perceptions suggest that damage to the equestrian sector is being done with little clear benefit to new entrants. However, on a more positive note, evidence indicates that diversification into accommodation and catering can have considerable benefit, which may be further enhanced through partnership with existing equestrian businesses to take advantage of tourism and other opportunities.

Business rates: Generally, these were considered to be unfair on riding schools and liveries, especially where diversified farms were felt to be in subsidised competition. Within several meetings, a particular issue was the extent to which business rate increases, arising from new developments such as construction of an all-weather riding area, mitigate against the growth/modernisation of small equestrian businesses.

Insurance for freelance instructors, riding schools and liveries: Two specialist brokers dominate the market nationally and it seems that people tend not to investigate alternative quotes, partly in view of their limited market expertise. Recent legal decisions have affected insurers’ views of riders’ and horse owners’ liability for accident, leading to premium increases in the absence of changed practices. There is an urgent need for an objective and impartial survey, of accidents, claims, settlements, riding school standards and working practices over the past decade. This assessment could then be used as a basis for formal discussion between equestrian sector representatives and the insurance sector at national level to help better understand risk.

Staffing: Various issues influence the recruitment of young staff and their retention within equestrian businesses. Requirements of increasingly strict employment law have closed down a number of ‘in kind’ supplements to pay. Impacts from all of the previous points steer businesses to set wages at lower levels and, in some cases, make redundancies. It is recognised nationally that there is disagreement between equestrian businesses and the Further Education sector concerning suitable training for young staff. There is also the possibility that these issues contribute to the previously mentioned rising insurance costs and that a different mix of skills may beneficially impact on safety, supervision and accident rates.

Off-Road Access: Access to safe places for riding is fundamental to participation in equestrianism. In particular, the local availability and quality of such facilities underpins the operation of many riding schools and liveries. With supporting promotion of the wider business benefits, off-road access improvements can generate new business developments. With support from the Countryside Agency, the Pennine Bridleway in Derbyshire is an example of what may be achieved through involving a range of local partners in promoting the local infrastructure.

Recreation and Performance

Whilst there is no sharp distinction between recreation and lower levels of competitive participation, different levels of competition reflect a clear spectrum of the ability, commitment and experience of riders, horses and trainers, along with levels of funding and support.

The infrastructure of equestrian recreation is influenced by several factors:

• Since riding schools and liveries provide a home base for many recreational riders, equestrian recreation and enterprise are tightly bound together. There is concern about the likely damage to higher level competitive riding performance in the future due to business constraints that are seen as restricting the scope of instruction.
  
• While the activities of riding schools are regulated by the district councils, issues of training and best practice for proprietors and instructors are promoted by the Association of British Riding Schools and British Horse Society through the training and examination structures that they offer their members. Development of these practices in response to wider influences is key to producing recreational riders who are competent in both riding and equine welfare.

• Access to safe riding also connects recreation and enterprise. Many access issues are currently being influenced by national and local government activities emanating, for example from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, including:

• Rights of Way Improvement Plans
• Local Access Forums
• Reclassification of Roads Used as a Public Path (RUPPs) as restricted byways
• The Discovering Lost Ways Project
• Development of local projects of economic and recreational benefit
• The Countryside Stewardship Scheme also offers new access opportunities

Contributing to the regional economy, an equestrian input to these initiatives is vital and can be markedly improved through facilitating better coordination with local partners and promoting innovative networking in the sector at various levels.

• Lack of off-road access, along with lack of connectivity between areas of off-road access exposes both horses and riders to risk from traffic and brings riders into contact with local government Highways Departments and Police enforcement on road traffic matters. This is an important dialogue, but currently an immature and unstructured one.

• The elitist image of equestrianism and the sector’s current lack of engagement with the wider general public has negative effects in several areas including: its lack of profile in relation to other recreational activities and promotion of conflict with other road users. Until recently, the equestrian sector only enjoyed marginal engagement with wider policy debates. While this situation is changing, negative perceptions of the industry can still affect the short attention span of policy makers.

• An element of organised networking exists within the recreational riding community . For example The Pony Club and British Horse Society’s Affiliated Riding Clubs each have organisational infrastructures that are expressed at national, regional and local levels. A number of local initiatives in the East Midlands, such as Recreational Riding Associations, Riders’ Groups and a Riders’ Forum also provide a basis for networking and partnerships. Whilst these networks serve their intended purposes very well, each tends to have a strong focus and currently there is little connectivity that could encourage or enable co-ordinated action. Also, collectively, these networks do not represent the majority of recreational riders. Hence, there is a high degree of fragmentation amongst the recreational riding community, which mirrors that of the service providers.

Considering performance, the full report indicates that the East Midlands has a considerable number of riders and horses that compete in the various disciplines. This number represents the broad spectrum of competition levels from local (within counties) up to around 5 or 6 riders at World Class and Olympic level. For riders at the upper levels of the Olympic disciplines (Dressage, Eventing and Show jumping) funding is available from UK Sport through the British Equestrian Federation to support training. Funding is available from Sport England for riders who show promise of achieving this level in the future, again through the British Equestrian Federation. An important consideration in both funding streams is that riders engage with modern performance development processes, such as those developed at Loughborough University for other sports, in addition to traditional equestrian training. This engagement has been slow due to various diverging perspectives on performance issues between the disciplines’ governing bodies, the British Equestrian Federation, Sport England and UK Sport.

Currently, Sport England and UK Sport only fund elite performance riders in the Olympic disciplines, creating a sharp divide between these and competitors in the non-Olympic disciplines and those riders, a majority in numerical terms, competing at lower levels in all disciplines for recreation. However, with recent developments, such as the government’s Game Plan for Sport and its regional implementation there is now an opportunity to redress this imbalance.

Education and Research

Traditionally, Higher Education involvement in equestrianism has concentrated on veterinary research and teaching of veterinary degree courses. More recently, the Further Education sector has engaged with equestrianism through diversification of agricultural colleges in the face of declining agricultural requirements. These colleges fulfil two important roles: most providing training for young people aiming to work in riding schools and liveries; and a smaller number working in partnership with the British Horse Society to provide training and examinations for future instructors. More recently, the Higher Education/ Further Education distinction has been blurred through a number of new universities developing partnerships with local colleges to offer a range of equine science degree programmes.

Discussions with stakeholders indicated a long standing mis-match between industry expectation and output from the Further Education sector. With compelling arguments from industry and Further Education, there is a need to determine a new basis for training provision, with relevant stakeholders perhaps taking more account of the wider issues, some of which are discussed here. Key are:

• Closer industry links with colleges are important as a vehicle for assessing need and effective demand for training.
• Training on how to be an equestrian employer would be a way of addressing perceived skill shortages and staff turnover – ICT/HR/Business skills.
• To improve business performance among liveries, training programmes could include horse and stable management, as well as customer care.
• There are difficulties with GCSE/EDEXCEL assessments and criteria for training skills as they are inappropriate and unsatisfactory.
• While there were different views on whether college-based training meets the industry’s needs, the NVQ system may be more appropriate and relevant.
• Education is becoming a customer-led activity. While industrial placements are encouraged, not all students are keen. Does exposure to the College environment affect students’ willingness to enter equine businesses?

Market research into employment patterns and qualifications may help to promote the industry’s attractiveness to potential students.

Much of the research-focused discussions with stakeholders suggested a lack of awareness concerning practical opportunities for collaboration. Given the traditional background of equestrianism and its current fragmented structure, this is not surprising. However, agreement was found on the following points:

• Application of relevant research can positively affect the performance of businesses, riders and horses.
• Joint academe and industry exploration of research proposals would be an important mechanism for greater cohesion and sustainable development of the sector.