Too Hard To Ride?

Dear all,
I am currently conducting a research project as part of my Sports Coaching course. My chosen subject title is “Too hard to ride? – The problems facing riding establishments and private horse owners”.

Below is a questionnaire please ensure you copy and paste the questionnaire into your text box and once you’ve added your answers submit it to the forum.

Also as a formality this is for a genuine academic project. Any answers posted may be used, anonymously, within the body of text however all answers will appear in the appendix. So please ensure genuine and sincere answers only.

Private horse owners
Q1- how long have you been riding?
6 years

Q2- how often do you ride?
pretty much everyday

Q3- do you have any insurance to cover when ride?
If so what type of insurance is it? What does it cover?
Countryside Alliance

Q4- where do you ride? (Delete non applicable)
Hire arenas. In a field. Hacks/treks on roads.

Q5- if you go onto roads are they;
Country lanes, busy AND Country lanes quiet.

Q6- why do you ride where you do?
We don't have a school. I hack mainly on the roads as if I stick to riding round the grass strips there is not enough variety of routes to take.

Q7- what do you think of the bridle ways around your area? Please state where in the country.
There are none near us

Q8- what do you think the main threat to riding as a sport is?
Eventually I think it will come down to money

Any other comments;

Thank you very much for your time, Lizzie Warner, Bath University student.

All my comments are the red ones :)
 
Private horse owners
Q1- how long have you been riding?
About 10 years

Q2- how often do you ride?
Daily when horse is in work

Q3- do you have any insurance to cover when ride?
If so what type of insurance is it? What does it cover?
Yes horse is fully insured and I assume it covers third party liability as well as injurys or death to horse and rider

Q4- where do you ride? (Delete non applicable)
Arena on yard. Hire arenas. Hacks/treks on both roads and bridle ways.

Q5- if you go onto roads are they;
A roads. B roads. Country lanes, busy.

Q6- why do you ride where you do?
As thats all the hacking we have on offer!

Q7- what do you think of the bridle ways around your area? Please state where in the country.
Rubbish, London/Herts (Watford)

Q8- what do you think the main threat to riding as a sport is?
The cost of it meaning more and more people cant participate!

Any other comments;
 
Q1- how long have you been riding?
A1-9 years ish

Q2- how often do you ride?
A2-About 3-4 times a week

Q3- do you have any insurance to cover when ride?
If so what type of insurance is it? What does it cover?
A4-BHS gold membership

Q4- where do you ride? (Delete non applicable)
Arena on yard. Hacks/treks on roads. Hacks/treks on bridle ways. Hacks/treks on both roads and bridle ways.

Q5- if you go onto roads are they;
(A roads. B roads)-sorry am incompetent and don't know the difference!! :-) Country lanes, busy. Country lanes quite.

Q6- why do you ride where you do?
A6-On the roads to get to the bridleways mostly-quickest places to get to

Q7- what do you think of the bridle ways around your area? Please state where in the country.
Cambridgeshire- accessible all yeah round although at times very wet and muddy and others like concrete. Sometimes there are a lot of low branches that are hard to fit under on a big horse and there is one gateway which only has a very small gap to fit through to get to the bridleway-have to take care not to take your knees off on it. Pretty good, just not a lot of variation.

Q8- what do you think the main threat to riding as a sport is?
Not entirely sure what you mean by 'threat' but probably that it is not a sport that is open to everyone due to the high costs!
 
Q1- how long have you been riding?
18yrs

Q2- how often do you ride?
5/6 times a week

Q3- do you have any insurance to cover when ride?
If so what type of insurance is it? What does it cover?
yes but its included in my horses policy so not sure what the details are

Q4- where do you ride? (Delete non applicable)
In a field. Hacks/treks on roads.

Q5- if you go onto roads are they;
mostly country lanes although through harvest time i do not ride on them as they are sooo dangerous, with tractors leading in grain, combines taking up the whole road etc just not worth the risk. do ride on the odd b road but these are really quiet only ever see 2 or 3 cars a time.

Q6- why do you ride where you do? no option to.

Q7- what do you think of the bridle ways around your area? Please state where in the country.
only one up past hume castle but its a dirty, rutted and unkept track so have a tendancy to avoid it. ( scottish borders, hume)

Q8- what do you think the main threat to riding as a sport is?
money, the cost of travel is effecting every aspect of owing a horse, from vet call out fees, to farriers and just driving to tend to your horse.

Any other comments;
 
Private horse owners
Q1- how long have you been riding? abt 20 years

Q2- how often do you ride? several times a week

Q3- do you have any insurance to cover when ride?
If so what type of insurance is it? What does it cover? BHS gold member insurance

Q4- where do you ride? (Delete non applicable)
Arena on yard.
Hacks/treks on both roads and bridle ways.

Q5- if you go onto roads are they;
B roads.
Country lanes, busy.
Country lanes quite.

Q6- why do you ride where you do? I ride my mare in the school as she doesnt hack out, I ride my friends horse out from her yard as she doesnt have a school

Q7- what do you think of the bridle ways around your area? Please state where in the country.

Very good - Im in rural Gloucestershire

Q8- what do you think the main threat to riding as a sport is?

Rising fuel costs
Rising insurance costs for running events
Rising costs in general!
 
Private horse owners
Q1- how long have you been riding?
Coming up for 18 years now.

Q2- how often do you ride?Whenever I'm home from uni, am taking it up full time once I've graduated in summer. So it will be 5/6 times a week.

Q3- do you have any insurance to cover when ride? Don't think so, but insurance broking is in the family so I've got quite abit of knowledge, should I ever need it.

Q4- where do you ride? (Delete non applicable)Arena on yard. Hire arenas. In a field. Hacks/treks on both roads and bridle ways. Competition arenas.

Q5- if you go onto roads are they:Country lanes, busy. Country lanes quiet.

Q6- why do you ride where you do?Competition rider so hacking is not first and foremost for me, do not have the motivation nor need to box up and go for a trek. Quiet ride on nearby farmland is all I require and want. Have a stable yard complete with arena at home.

Q7- what do you think of the bridle ways around your area? Please state where in the country.Leicestershire. Very few bridleways, most of them extremely short. Fields have a lot of cows in. Have to travel by road for 30-40 mins to get to the longer routes.

Q8- what do you think the main threat to riding as a sport is?Cash flow of the economy. People struggling to pay for their horse/hobbie. Those that struggle enough to sell up will find it even harder to get back in the sport due to the continuation of cost increases. Fuel costs affect competition entries, so further affect amateur competing finances.
 
Q1- how long have you been riding?

20 years

Q2- how often do you ride?

Every weekend during term time (uni), everyday during the summer.

Q3- do you have any insurance to cover when ride?

BHS Gold membership

Q4- where do you ride?

Arena on yard. In a field. Hacks/treks on roads. Hacks/treks on bridle ways. Hacks/treks on both roads and bridle ways. On showgrounds with grass arenas.

Q5- if you go onto roads are they;

Country lanes, busy. Country lanes quiet.

Q6- why do you ride where you do?

I hack in order to make my horses bombproof for when they are competing as they have to be ridden by a ride judge and also to make sure they have a complete education should anything ever happen to me and they need to be sold. I school to make sure they can be ridden by anyone and are light and responsive. I ride in the school and out because I feel it creates a well rounded horse.

Q7- what do you think of the bridle ways around your area?

Hertfordshire. The bridleways around our yard are excellent and lead into large areas of forest.

Q8- what do you think the main threat to riding as a sport is?

The cost prohibits many from becoming involved in the sport.
 
Private horse owners
Q1- how long have you been riding? 26 years

Q2- how often do you ride? Normally for a minimum of 1 hour at least 6 days per week. Currently not at all due to a non horse related injury

Q3- do you have any insurance to cover when ride? yes
If so what type of insurance is it? What does it cover? Both horses are fully covered for everything, I have personal accident insurance and my tack is covered as an extra

Q4- where do you ride? (Delete non applicable)
Arena on yard. Hire arenas. In a field. Hacks/treks on roads. Hacks/treks on bridle ways. Hacks/treks on both roads and bridle ways.

Q5- if you go onto roads are they;
A roads. B roads. Country lanes, busy. Country lanes quite. All of these

Q6- why do you ride where you do? I ride in e arena to school, I like to hack to have a good gallop and unwind, and for fittening

Q7- what do you think of the bridle ways around your area? Please state where in the country. Huntingdonshire, hacking is amazing, good choice of long and short hacks over different terrain.

Q8- what do you think the main threat to riding as a sport is? Cost
 
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