You’re predictions for the future of horse sport

[Lexi 123]

My predictions is that the horse are going to get very expensive to keep because of for the lack of land. I think supplements will be banned from competition . I also think there will be less equestrians and very little yard around because of housing market .

 

[shortstuff99]

Why do you think supplements will be banned? And which ones? The 'calmer' ones etc don't work which is why they are not currently banned, if they were demonstrably shown to work the FEI would've already banned them.

I think the biggest issue for horse sport will be public perception and the issue of it staying an Olympic sport rather then land issues.

 

[emilylou]

You sound very pessimistic

 

[canteron]

Do you think horses will remain in the Olympics for very long - I think they will be eased out over the next 20 years, my ambition is to see the Olympic eventing in Versailles before it’s too late!

 

[windand rain]

I think horses wil be beyond the purse of many but the biggest risk to horse sport is the lack of young people coming through. Shows and dressage at grassroots level seem to be populated by the over 40's Showjumping and hunter trials are also heading that way classes beyond 50cm tend to be small and again adult heavy

 

[oldie48]

There's a move back to living in the country and with more home working because of Covid, I think that is a trend that will continue. This will bring more people into the countryside who can afford horses, so I think horse ownership will increase. I also suspect that more children will start riding and there will be an increase in late starters. We are just about to put our house on the market with a view to down sizing to somewhere without equestrian facilities and the market is very hot with properties being bought off market.

 

[Frumpoon]

I think you are right about the price of land being the biggest influencing factor

 

[skint1]

I think horse ownership and perhaps even riding will become the preserve of the more affluent but will continue because as has already been observed people are moving into the countryside and they have money to support the hobby. There appears to be a trend away from DIY yards, I am sure there are many reasons for that and I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing in the long term

 

[Otherwise]

Without meaning to start a fight I think in the distant future all horse sport will end, the peta types will win and it will be unconscionable to ride a horse.

 

[PurBee]

Without meaning to start a fight I think in the distant future all horse sport will end, the peta types will win and it will be unconscionable to ride a horse.

i’m inclined to agree, although i dont think they’ll be banned altogether.

Possibly in 100yrs time horse sport activities will still exist but many methods we use now to handle and ride horses will be banned.

 

[BaronSamedi]

Without meaning to start a fight I think in the distant future all horse sport will end, the peta types will win and it will be unconscionable to ride a horse.

Never gonna happen

 

[L&M]

Racing will go in my lifetime.......

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Racing will go in my lifetime.......

Nope. Racing won't be going anywhere, especially not flat racing. National Hunt might be a different matter but you won't get rid of flat racing. The Arabs put too much money into the world's economy from it and their studs all over the globe.

 

[windand rain]

Racing will be one of the top horse sports as it has so much money involved in it It is low level fun classes that will go there is no young keen riders any more the bulk of the kids that used to take chances and had fun are gone. Pony ownership has just about gone already too much school too much social life too much internet and too little guts

 

[Wishfilly]

Racing will be one of the top horse sports as it has so much money involved in it It is low level fun classes that will go there is no young keen riders any more the bulk of the kids that used to take chances and had fun are gone. Pony ownership has just about gone already too much school too much social life too much internet and too little guts

I disagree, I think. I would say the number of kids who have ponies at the school I teach at is comparable to the number of kids who had ponies when I was at school. I think the issue is more that the cost of competing has gone right up.

There are way less little unaffiliated shows around (and I think those that were may not come back after Covid). And the cost of affiliated competition (especially BE) is a big extra on top of horse ownership which parents aren't willing/able to fund. The only kids I know who can afford to compete regularly now are my YO's grandkids, but they are exactly the sort of children/teens you describe.

I don't think it has much to do with the internet- all the horsey teens I know like to show off their jumping/comps on social media. I do think it's got a lot to do with the costs of competing, and the ease of access to competitions.

 

[Silver Clouds]

Racing will be one of the top horse sports as it has so much money involved in it It is low level fun classes that will go there is no young keen riders any more the bulk of the kids that used to take chances and had fun are gone. Pony ownership has just about gone already too much school too much social life too much internet and too little guts

I think at local/grassroots level competitions and riding/pony clubs have also been massively affected by increasing H&S and insurance costs, and decreasing volunteer numbers, and this is likely to get worse, making more and more local clubs and shows close. Clubs and shows often really struggle now to attract volunteers, which is the only way these types of events can run, and I think this situation will only get worse. I think it is partly because there seems to be fewer people who are civic minded or feel 'invested' in their community, but mainly due to the fact that nearly all adults now work. When I was a child almost non of the PC mothers worked, so they had time to volunteer to help with the PC; nowadays the majority of the mothers at the PCs I'm involved with have full time jobs. The only way round this would be to pay for people to 'help', but that would make riding even more of an expensive/elitist hobby.

 

[FlyingCircus]

I think people will increasingly find themselves in a position like mine.

I want to keep my horses DIY and go to low level comps but I can't because it's getting too expensive. Because it's getting so expensive, I'm needing to work longer hrs in a more intense job. At the minute, I'm still on DIY but I see a change to part or full in the next year otherwise I will completely burn out.

 

[SO1]

I think it will decline, the way of keeping horses, and they way people work means the costs of gone up.

I am 48, I was lucky enough to grow up in a village in Norfolk, most kids in the village had ponies as most of the properties had some land. Ponies were kept very cheaply living out, with hay bunged in the field in the winter, no fancy feeds, no teeth checks, saddle fittings, very occasionally they might get wormed, no fancy clothes, supplements or any other products, no poo picking. Low cost, low maintenance, Kids many hacked out together, jumps set up in fields, Very few expensive vet treatments on offer. It was considered a very cheap hobby for rural children which required little parental supervision. I was hacking out on my own and with friends from age 8. Some people had trailers and went to pony club or local shows if they had a double trailers then they would often offer to take a friend who did not have a trailer, nobody had a horsebox.

Now the way most people keep horses has become massively more expensive, most people cannot afford to keep horses at home, cost of land is very high even in rural areas, and people working longer hours, commuting further makes time a problem too. Most people would be horrified at the way most ponies were kept 40 years ago.

It will become a rich person or rural persons hobby. Lack of land near urban areas will make time a problem for working people if they need to be on DIY and can't get from home to yard and to work quickly.

Most horse riders will be either professionals, from farming backgrounds, or wealthy middle aged women perhaps who have children who have grown up and moved out and now have time and money to spend indulging their passion, younger professionals with horses kept on part or full livery to fit in around demanding jobs. DIY livery will I think become a thing of the past as people's working and family lives become more full on with longer commutes, and there is less land so horse not being able to live out so more time and money needed for their care.

I have my pony for 13 years now and made sacrifices to keep him, he is now 19. I am 48 don't own my own property, no partner, for many years I was restricted to what jobs I could do as I had to be able to leave at 5pm and could not travel for business. My whole life was planned around horse care. I did move to a part livery yard 5 years ago from DIY grass livery due a horse in the field dying of atypical myopathy and so I needed to find somewhere with sycamore. I was able to change jobs to a better paid job as I could work more hours and travel for business, at the same time I was given some money from family which has eased the financial pressures. This has meant for the last three years I have been able to go on holiday and socialise with friends after work and have a few treats as well as have a pony. I am still very careful with money. Having said all this my pony and the yard have been a great help for my mental health during the lockdown, especially as I live on my own, without them I would be socially isolated during lockdown. Who know what my life would have been like without a horse but I am very glad I have one at the moment.

 

[stormox]

Without meaning to start a fight I think in the distant future all horse sport will end, the peta types will win and it will be unconscionable to ride a horse.

Ridiculous!!

 

[L&M]

Nope. Racing won't be going anywhere, especially not flat racing. National Hunt might be a different matter but you won't get rid of flat racing. The Arabs put too much money into the world's economy from it and their studs all over the globe.

I hope you are right!!!! But agree NH is far more at risk than flat.......

 

[L&M]

And give hunting another 5 yrs max - even if every pack cleaned up its act and hunted strictly within the law, continued urbanisation and lack of supportive farmers, and therefore country, will kill it off......maybe a few elite packs that have estate country to hunt over will survive longer but even then days are numbered.

 

[teapot]

Without a serious reassess of business management, a lot of riding schools will go and never be replaced.

 

[SOS]

Very interesting thread. Those saying grassroots sport is dying, how about the high numbers of people taking up low level BE and how it’s becoming more financially viable to run say several BE80 classes than cater for Intermediate + classes?

I see many yards already moving to part or full livery only. I worked out a while ago it was more financially viable/the only way to keep my horses fit, was to have them on full (non ridden) livery and use the two hours I would of spent mucking out, feeding etc. working extra instead. Most of my full livery worked out at between £15-25 a day. As long as you earn more than half of that an hour it may be better to have a horse on such a livery. That’s without taking into account the money it would cost everyday anyway in DIY livery, feed, hay, bedding, fuel......

 

[SO1]

One thing I have noticed is how popular the veteran showing classes have been compared to a lot of other classes. I think people keeping their horses longer, perhaps can only afford one horse and then doing these classes when the horses need to slow down a bit.

 

[dogatemysalad]

International studies on the leisure horse riding industry show that it's popularity is linked (unsurprisingly) to the average income of a country. When average income reaches around $30,000, horse riding as a leisure pursuit becomes very popular. The UK ranks pretty highly amongst wealthy countries in the world, so I don't think we'll be seeing a decline anytime soon.
Horse racing involves too much money and is rapidly expanding in countries with little history of equestrianism. I doubt that PETA or any other activists will have any influence over such a large industry.

 

[minesadouble]

This is an interesting question.

I'm in my early 50s now and got my first pony when I was tiny as my mum rode.
When I was a kid, in the 70s and 80s the only kids I knew with their own ponies were children like me, with 'horsey' parents. We all competed and had knowledgeable parents who kept us right.

Now, as an adult, with a large DIY livery yard, I see way more people with limited experience and funds buying and keeping horses. I think its a symptom of our 'instant gratification' society. People have a few lessons and think right I'm going to buy a horse.

I've recently part loaned one of my daughter's outgrown ponies to someone, totally unhorsy, kiddie has ridden for 2 months and they are already looking to buy.

There are far fewer true horsemen about now.
I remember getting a 12.2 when I was 9, I couldn't ride one side of him, he kept running to the gate in the field (no arenas in those days) and out hacking he would half rear, nap and spin. I remember my mum's attitude being, 'you're going to have to be a stronger rider and learn to manage this pony' which is exactly what I did, then had masses of fun with him over the next 3 years until I outgrew him. Nowadays I feel lots of people would have tried to return him as unsuitable.

I think that currently, horse ownership is way more accessible now than it ever was and I'm not sure it's an entirely good thing for horses in general.

I genuinely think that if horses became a more significant financial commitment it may not be a bad thing for horses.

 

[honetpot]

We seem to be going round in a circle. In the 70's if you owned a pony you were well off or came from a country family with access to land, I never had a proper lesson until I went to work for someone who was well off, and they had a private stud, with a stud manager who gave me lessons. The only other person I knew growing up who owned a pony, her dad won the pools.
The 80's, there was more money about, there started to be more livery yards, but it was all pretty basic, I didn't know anyone who competed or even had transport, everything was cheap and then where I lived it was pretty much like this until the 90's. You just hacked or hunted, and perhaps went to the odd riding club event, if you could hack there.
I moved further south in the 90's, and the first time I went to a riding club show just to watch I was just amazed at the standard. You had more DIY yards, more lessons available and there was some sort of horse show or event every week with about 25miles.
Since about 2000, its gradually become less about riding for fun, it seems everyone has to have lessons, compete, buy the latest kit and of course ride on a surface. I think it's no coincidence the growth of housing and pressure on land has made the economics of running a livery, its seems a school is a must, as well as tea room, wash box and individual turnout, but somehow people have replaced basic horsemanship with buying 'stuff', and bags of the latest calmer. I can not say the standard of riding has improved, if anything its seems to have become worse, with reliance on some sort of gimmick to fix the horse.
Eventually the pressure on land will be so great, that landowners will be able to increase their charges. Already full livery or five day livery is becoming an only option on some yards. There are fewer entries at larger shows, those that were struggling before will perhaps not happen again due to covid. The biggest problem will be now even if you can afford to keep one, who really wants to ride on our roads and there is less off road riding available. So I see even more of a split, divided by the people who own the smart horse, with the money to support its upkeep, and the basic horse owner becoming greater.
At the moment the ponies that I was buying four years ago have increased in price 400%, I can not see how a normal family can justify that cost, and livery on top.

 

[rabatsa]

I learnt to ride in the 1960's. My first pony was at working livery at a good riding school, ditto my sister. Every village round about had a local gala, each gala had a small show attached with classes for local people and maybe a couple of open classes for those who lived more than 5 miles away. There were lots of other events and things for the locals at each gala.

Now the galas have gone along with the small shows. The days where everyone knew who owned what horses, ponies and land, have gone.

We hacked to the shows and I have kept my horse in someone elses field the night before when the hacking distance was too great for getting there early to do the condition and turnout class.

Everyone looked out for everyone else and their children. I knew this had changed the day I went to a show and had forgotten my girth and not a single person would lend me one. A tack shop on the showfield lent me a girth that day, even this would not happen nowadays. I was only a teenager at the time and my horse had slept in a cow field the night before. The farmer was amazed that using only water from the trough I could wash and turn out to win the condition and turnout class. That was the last show I went to alone, after that we bought a trailer and my parents gave up their weekends to take me further afield. Pony club shows and events were all I did for a while then I joined the BSJA and did a bit of jumping but only in a 30 mile radius of home.

Now people think nothing of travelling this for a local show and often are happy to go 100 miles for other shows. I have taken animals several hundred miles for national events, RDA and donkeys.

The old days may have rose tinted specs on but life was slower and while rough and ready, altogether happier.

 

[LEC]

I was discussing this the other day with friends and I think you will see horse sport becoming more elitist. You will need serious cash flow to go eventing. Even unaff SJ rounds are £15 round here. I cannot see myself being able to afford a horse of the quality I want in the future so now looking at if taking the gamble on breeding is viable, but need to make sure we have the right set up for youngstock. I don't have £15k to spend on a nice horse now. I don't see horse prices coming down for quality. Farriers round here are all putting up prices, feed is going up etc. Horses have always been elitist but I think the gap will grow.

 

[milliepops]

very hard to imagine really IMO, on the one hand yes I can see the levels where sport is getting more serious could become more to the elite-only, but at the lower levels in all disciplines i see the governing bodies opening out and offering more accessible routes in and up, year after year.
I don't see that changing.

I can't afford any proper horsepower either but tbh it's not been necessary to achieve a modest level of success for an amateur and I also don't think that will change either, particularly given the aforementioned changes (a championship for everyone ) while nice sports horse prices are going upwards there will always be cheaper types around I think.

It is the reason I've finally taken the breeding plunge, i don't think I've bred myself a worldbeater but she is the smartest horse I've ever had, fortunately my home set up means the cost to run on will be almost 0 if we have no disasters. I'm only breeding for myself though, it's succession planning.