Top 10 risks faced by the horse industry

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Mr_Ed

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A few weeks ago Marcus Armytage wrote in Horse & Hound "York racecourse has been hit by both fire and flood lately - if these things come in threes, the plague's next". Subsequently we have had foot and mouth.

Apologies if this isn't news but I didn't want the "Top 10 risks faced by the horse industry" to disappear too quickly - it's important.

What do you think are the top ten risks are that need to be addressed by the horse industry (that includes all sectors and disciplines) to ensure its future sustainability?
 
S**t, this is a bit deep for a monday.
I'll have a go
1. The groom crisis
2.The compensation culture
3. climate change
4. polilically insane bunny huggers
..............can't think of anymore
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1) Compensation culture
2) Very high business rates and no willingness on part of
govt to offer the support to the industry that
happens in Ireland and on the Continent
3) Fanatical animal welfare groups
4) High risks of hacking out on roads where there are no
or few bridleways
5) Divisions between different groups representing the
industry
6) Quality of leadership and management in some horse
organisations:
I think this is improving, but it needs to!! Still some
people in senior posts who are reluctant to change/
there for the power/ego?
7) Poor marketing and PR of horse events - again, this is
getting better, but the industry is not well represented
in the media at the moment, and there could be much
more interest generated with better PR
8) Lots of new owners/riders who have little knowledge of
how to care for their horses and are not prepared to go
the Pony Club route
9) Linked to (1), rising cost of insurance for horse owners

That's about all I can come up with ... can't make 10!
 
to answer rufusbluemoon on point 8 he makes, i seem to have come across quite a few novice adults who obviously have no childhood riding experience.they get suckered into buying a jet propelled b*****d by some snooty maddam and nearly kill themselves before my bit of old fashioned,nagsmanship hails into view,,I wish to god the friendliness that existed in my childhood was more prevalent.
 
1. Poor wages for those at the shovel and bucket end of the industry. That is also linked to
2. Those who attend a college, get a qualification in horse management, but have no real and practical experience of handling difficult horses or the real time hours it entails. (I realise this is a sweeping generalisation and does not apply to everyone whe has gone to a college, but it does to some.) They then expect decent wages on a 9-5 basis, and it just doesn't happen. That is why in racing especially there is a huge influx of Eastern European lads in the industry, because at the moment they work hard for the basic wage.
A friend of mine who has been a work rider in racing for his whole life recently went to work for a household name trainer who'd had to change his training methods to accomodate the fact that half the lads couldn't ride.
3. The dumbing down of the BSJA and BE at lower levels, and the ensuing knock on effect on riding clubs and rider and horse potential.
4. The hunting ban
5. Compensation culture........suing your employers becasue you fell off a horse............
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6. Compensation culture part 2 ...suing a vendor because you have overhorsed yourself........
7. Compensation culture part 3 suing riding schools etc
8. Ridiculous health and safety rules because of 7.
9. The nepotism still inherent in the higher echelons of the sporting bodies, and the reluctance to listen to riders, Be in particular, but also what happened with AT.
10. This is a racing one really, but it impacts over to other sports, breeding for speed/performance only, not soundness.
I don't understand how breeding from an admittedly talented horse who was a superstar as a 2yo, and subsequently didn't stand training on, is a good idea for the future of the thoroughbred.
 
What an interesting question! My views of the risks, in no particular order

1) Lack of national co-ordination and one voice for equestrian matters (I know about British Horse Industry Confederation but never hear from them)

2) following on from above, not enough done to preserve rights of way, off road access and road safety for riders - if we were half as political as the ramblers we would be a force to be reckoned with

3) no national push for British breeding, again I know it is supported on a more local level and of course we have a long tradition of TB breeding but there do not appear to be any financial breaks for breeders

4) I do believe banning hunting has had an effect, even if it is just reinforce the perception of some that horses are/were related to something bad.

5) high insurance costs and little real competition in the market

sorry -couldn't get to 10 at this time of the morning!
 
Hi all

I was looking at your discussion on the threats to the horse industry and totally agree with what you've been saying.
I thought you might like to see a feature I wrote on the "Ten Biggest Threats to the Horseworld".
If I was writing it now - I'd def include climate change, as a couple of you suggest!

You can download the feature from this link

http://virtualvault.freedom2surf.net/F/16729537/EMBED


Best wishes

Seamour Rathore
Features editor
Horse & Hound
 
Thanks Seamour, interesting to read it and relflect on some changes since then. The labour issue has got more significant, I think, but how can it be readily changed when horses are such hard work to do well, without the money in the industry to reward the workers financially.
Your and rufusblumoon's point about the welfare of horses being bought for leisure by people with little or no idea of the needs of their charges is also increasingly worrying. There is a bit of a knock on to this with the British people moving over here to France, with no idea about horses, but they buy one or two anyway because land here is relatively cheap and ''as horses eat grass they won't cost anything to keep'', and have no idea what they are doing. They probably wouldn't be here if the UK countryside wasn't disappearing from fields into buiding plots and livery yards were more affordable.
Sorry, bit of a diversion rant there..........
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1. compensation culture and it's knock on effect to insurance costs
2. the inability any longer to train riders properly without risking claims if they fall off - anywhere from riding school to pony club to training yards - gone are the days of the jumping lane, no reins, no stirrups and hands on head
3. loss of the old 'nagsmen' (and women) - people who knew from years of experience (and not paper qualifications) what they were doing and got respect for it and were prepared to help people - not for money or reward - but for the satisfaction of seeing a horse improve/get better/do well
4. voyeurism in all walks of life - from rubber necking to the 'thrills and spills' of XC day - making fences bigger/narrower/wider/awkward distances/etc - to create 'thrills and spills' - all this has an ultimate impact on the poor horse who is faced with these 'challenges'
5. the emphasis in dressage on producing 5 yr olds that can do advanced movements (and 4 yr olds) - copying the continentals to the detriment of the long term soundness of the horse (and ultimately shortening it's life). The get 'em young, train 'em fast and sell 'em for big bucks before they break mentality.
6. governement red tape from business rates thru H&S to planning - all of these have a big impact on rural businesses of all sorts including equestrian businesses
7. ignorant horse owners who treat their horses as the latest fashion accessory alongside the porsche and the nike trainers. The emphasis in yards on hanging baskets and pretty flowerbeds and remote access stable cams over basic horsecare.
8. the inability of the police to deal in any way with rural crime be it fly tipping, tack theft, horse/horsebox theft, etc etc etc
9. the imbalance in the rights of way network where there are over 90% footpaths and a few % bridlepaths and those are used by motorbikes, cyclists and muppets. 'right to roam' applying to everyone on foot and no-one on horses.
10. Red Ken livingstone and his Low emissions zone blocking old lorries from going to competition venues in greater london - some of you will think this has nothing to do with you but when it reaches manchester, etc it will

and coupled with this the total inability of the horse organisations in this country to pull together in the same direction and beat the gov over the head with a mallet when it is being stupid in regard to the horse world
 
1)Compensation culture, and the consequent knock on effect that all but the most expensive and prestigious riding schools now refuse to challenge their pupils, with the consequent effect that
2)If you want to improve, you need access to your own horse, which is unaffordable for many and impractical for kids with non-horsey parents which makes the horse world insular and eletist, reserved for those with very deep pockets, leading to
3)lack of public and government support for the activity, leading, among other things, to eventual banning/restrictions of access to bridleways and horses on the roads, and stupidly high liability threshold for horse owners, leading to
4)Increased insurance premiums for horse owners (feeding back slightly into points 1 & 2).
5) The inability of the government to accept that academia is not for everyone, keeping kids in school till 18 and encouraging far more than is wise to go to university--if I had spent 5 extra years (afer 16) gaining "accademic qualifications," I doubt I would be willing to muck out every hour god sends for sub-minimum wage pay either.
6) Rising land prices because everything is viewed as prime building land at the moment, forcing costs up and making the sport increasingly less accessible to those in non-rural areas (feeding to point 3);
7) The public attitude that the countryside is not a place for business and recreation, but public property to be enjoyed at weekends with no regard to its regular users;
8) Whatever it is in the equine community in this country that is causing so many horses to be retired due to ill health before their teens (personally I suspect a combination of backing too early, working too hard too young, and deciding once it breaks down at eleven it needs a new career as a broodmare)
9) The internet; what should have been a valuable resource for the improvement of horse care and training has instead made inexperienced people without basic foundations on which to build decide if they can read about it, they can do it (to cite a few examples: parelli, breeding, join-up, backing youngsters, (and my prediction for the next big one, hoof trimming)).
10) I deleted the contents of 10, because it went on forever, but it was essentially a rant about prejudice in the horse world against one idea or the other, with very few people occupying a sensible middle ground.
 
Thanks for the comments so far - some common themes coming out.

We have the 10 year "Strategy for the Horse Industry in England and Wales".

It would seem sensible (am I right?) that a 10 year strategy should be formualated on a risk based approach - seeking to address some of the things mentioned in these threads. It has 8 key aims resulting in 50 actions.

Simplest guide to the strategy can be found at: http://www.ridingsafely.net/strategy.html

An update on progress can be found at: http://www.bhic.co.uk/downloads/action_plan_update_march_07_final.pdf

I think that some of the concerns mentioned in these threads are addressed by the strategy but not all - so is the strategy right?
 
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