Does anyone else wonder if riding will be banned one day?

It makes you wonder, with the way things are going. The UK has become so urbanised and people's closest encounters with animals comes from the tv and the Daily Mail. This type of person considers themselves an "animal lover" because they would never knowingly hurt an animal, mainly because they never have anything to do with one. Or if they do, they think theres nothing wrong with under-exercising their half demented large dog for 10 minutes twice a day.

I can see the UK moving more towards licensing and healthy and safety-ing and sueing horse riding out of all but the most controlled existence. e.g. only permitted to ride in schools on specially authorised surfaces, annual veterinary inspections, not allowed on public roads, etc..
 
Personally, I think that when the fuel supplies run out or get SO expensive that people can't afford to run cars, horses may start to be used as a viable form of transport again... would certainly work out here in the sticks where I live.

As for banning riding - do you mean general riding as well as competition? The racing industry is a huge one, worth millions, and I can't see it ever being banned. As for general riding on my own horses - who the hell is going to stop me?? :)
 
Whilst the concept of riding and competing horses being banned is ludicrous, I think it's possible that in the future riding and owning horses might decline due to spiralling, out of control costs and H&S red tape. Even climate change could cause problems - we've had trouble over the last few years sourcing hay, and I've never had trouble sourcing hay before in my life :(
 
sychnant said:
Personally, I think that when the fuel supplies run out or get SO expensive that people can't afford to run cars, horses may start to be used as a viable form of transport again... would certainly work out here in the sticks where I live.
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That would suit me! I already sometimes dream about riding down the M1 if there were no cars on it. :D
 
tallyho! said:
I just think ancient traditions need updating e.g.

bullfighting - c'mon Spain & America, that is barbaric and this is the 21st century.
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America has bullfighting?:eek:


Banning riding! What Government in its' right mind would even consider that? I don't think even PETA and friends can swing that one, much as they, in their blinkered little world would like to.

I wonder what the costs would be? All that unemployment to be paid for a start. What sort of figures, in terms of people losing their livlihood, would we be thinking about? No horses being ridden, and therefore bred = no feet to trim or shoe - no farriers, no tack needed, no feed, no hay, no transport required (4 x 4 sales would plummet), no shows - no jumps - no rosettes - no trophies, no specialist clothing etc (Bye bye Robinsons et al) property prices would drop. Jeez, even the Cavalry would have to go, wonder if that would affect tourism? The ripples would spread far and wide - Dear God!

No, they'll not ban horse riding in a hurry :D
 
I think a lot of people who are against racing, ride horses themselves. They love horses so much (some may call them sentimental) that they can't bear the idea of them being killed. The average 'man on the street' sees the Grand National as race that everyone has a bet on.

I think it's highly unlikely that riding will be banned in the future and can't be put in the same category as keeping wild animals in captivity which is clearly wrong.
 
Mithras said:
It makes you wonder, with the way things are going. The UK has become so urbanised and people's closest encounters with animals comes from the tv and the Daily Mail. This type of person considers themselves an "animal lover" because they would never knowingly hurt an animal, mainly because they never have anything to do with one. Or if they do, they think theres nothing wrong with under-exercising their half demented large dog for 10 minutes twice a day.
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Quite. The other week the DM had a feature on the equine hospital at Newmarket, and there was a comment from some woman saying, "What about those poor horses whose owners prefer to have them shot instead of spending the money on curing them?"

:rolleyes:

Honestly. And there was the pig farmer who had someone call him up, wanting to raise pigs for pork, and then being shocked to learn that that would involve killing the pigs.

The best bet is to get more people riding, but of course that takes funds.
 
Of course it won't, horse riding may be a leisure activity for most but it's also a massive industry, employing lots of people and making plenty of money.

I suspect people may start demanding some reformation of the racing industry and I don't think that would be a bad thing TBH. I am definitely not anti-racing but I do believe there are issues which could do with being addressed! :)
 
If you ban riding your basicly shuving history and tradition up it's own @rse! They are economic transport, money making machines, and a while list of used in this world. There is no way it will be banned, even the queen will certainly disagree! She has many many horses and other royal members (Zara Phillips) will not agree either! It's just out of the question really, IMO it will never be banned.
 
On Friday I would have said the OP was mad to even think that but after a day at work where loads of people were slagging off racing, p2p, eventing et al as "cruel, dangerous and should be banned" I begin to wonder if she has a point.

There are people out there who believe that horses shouldn't be ridden, that it's unnatural and shouldn't be allowed on those grounds. Ok they are a tiny minority at the moment but in fairness so were the anti hunting bods not so many years ago.

It's interesting that Ginger McCain was quoted today as saying that safety improvements to the fences were to blame for some/many of the fallers because they allowed the horses to go that much faster rather than slowing them down and making them stand off better with the bigger fences. Raises a question certainly.
 
What a funny question.

No, in a word.

In fact if anything it'll be even more popular when the oil runs out.

Agree with Sychnant about riding horses along motorways. Can you imagine? Tarmac on the slow lane for carts and carriages, lovely turf on the middle and fast lanes, endless stretches of it going all over the country. Lovely!
 
Simply won't happen.

Not whilst the government fills the coffers with VAT on all those horsey goods you just can't do without! Put the word horse in front of a piece of leather, plastic, metal or wood and the price rockets; and of course as VAT is a % George & Dave can manage to smile and pass the carrots.
 
mcnaughty said:
Oh come on flame - this is getting very boring - why on earth are you trying to stir up BS like this.
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mcn - I am interseted when you say "Why on earth are you trying to stir up BS like this." what are you actually getting at ie that it is not going to happen or some other possibility?

There are already moves to ban specific forms of racing in Australia. Steeplechase and hurdle racing in the state of Victoria was set to end after the 2010 season. Following determined lobbying and having satisfied a limit on the maximum number of deaths among starting horses, hurdle racing was granted a 3 year extension by Racing Victoria. A decision regarding steeplechase was postponed until October 2010 when a program for the 2011 season only was granted.

There are forum members even here that have voiced opinions that ideally horses shouldn't be ridden and would like to see a future where horses are not "used" by humans

There are many extreme animal rights groups that want the "ownership" of animals ended. No pets. No farming of animals etc

The problem with animals being used in sport or being put to some specific use whether it be professional or amateur is that there will always be an element of risk involved.

The question arises what is an acceptable level of risk? And if this level of risk is applied to one aspect of animal use when and how will other uses fall under the same critera.

The future is yet undecided from our present point of view however current trends would indicate that more regulations and restrictions will be enacted.
Will we see all horse riding banned one day - who knows...
 
Yes I can see it happening, you only have to look at how we are hated on the roads, horse poo on the road is another stick to beat us with, drivers hate trailers on the roads, hacking routes are being taken away from us bit by bit, or turned into "route 66" cycle ways, or made unrideable for most of us except the most most pig headed of us like me ;), in just the 7 years I have owned my own Pony, the amount of riding routes just taken away from us or broken up in my area is staggering, yes it's going to come, just when is the question.......

Some of you may have seen my saturday morning ride video from a while back, yes some official/s thought this was ok for a bridleway route, if you havent seen it before, enjoy..... turn your sound on.

Now is this catering for us, or designed to put off riders so they can turn round and say, "no one ever uses it" then they can take it's status away......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEUOCqrvCXE
 
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Pedantic said:
Yes I can see it happening, you only have to look at how we are hated on the roads, horse poo on the road is another stick to beat us with, drivers hate trailers on the roads, hacking routes are being taken away from us bit by bit, or turned into "route 66" cycle ways, or made unrideable for most of us except the most most pig headed of us like me ;), in just the 7 years I have owned my own Pony, the amount of riding routes just taken away from us or broken up in my area is staggering, yes it's going to come, just when is the question.......

Some of you may have seen my saturday morning ride video from a while back, yes some official/s thought this was ok for a bridleway route, if you havent seen it before, enjoy..... turn your sound on.

Now is this catering for us, or designed to put off riders so they can turn round and say, "no one ever uses it" then they can take it's status away......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEUOCqrvCXE
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oh my goodness. I would not take my chances on that route with my boys. You have a saint of a pony.
 
It's like the rivets popping along the side of the Titanic.
Hunting is pretty much gone in it's traditional form, jump racing will no doubt go the same way if people, a lot of whom have nothing whatsoever to do with horses, continue to get all hysterical and riled about it, then eventing, showjumping, then the flat racing, then...hey, isn't it mean to nail metal onto horse's feet and stick a metal bar in it's mouth and expect it to carry you? For your own pleasure? Make it live in a wooden box?

Then there will be shooting and fishing eventually, and a few organisations want to outlaw pet ownership. There are already bans on certain types of control collars which I have seen with my own eyes, save dog's lives.

The place I visit in the states, you cannot be a dog owner according to the local authority, but a 'dog guardian'....I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist but we ALL exploit animals, even if just because we want a companion/pet, every single one of us.
 
There are many extreme animal rights groups that want the "ownership" of animals ended. No pets. No farming of animals etc

That is just absurd !!!!!!
 
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