British Equestrian working towards a sustainable future for UK riding centres

British Equestrian (BEF), working with the British Horse Society (BHS), the Association of British Riding Schools (ABRS+), The Pony Club (PC), the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) and horsescotland are behind the new survey which closes at the end of the month.

The standout message from the 2022 survey was that riding centres were in the midst of a supply and demand predicament, which proved both positive and negative. They reported that while interest in riding remained buoyant, more than two thirds of centres were currently struggling to keep up with enquiries and take on new clients, creating a barrier to increasing participation.

Workforce, both paid and volunteer, rising costs and horsepower were primary concerns last year with, on average, centres running at 75 per cent capacity due to these issues.

Another challenge having an impact on some businesses was council licensing requirements and processes due to the costs, complexity and time involved being considerable.

British Equestrian and the other bodies have used the data to work towards a viable future for riding centres with a number of ideas introduced in the course of 2022.

A working group of BEF, BHS, ABRS+, PC and RDA has been established to focus on licensing that meets quarterly to co-ordinate lobbying of government under a united approach.

The BHS is leading and has made considerable progress towards ‘assured advice’ which outlines how councils should implement licensing guidance. In addition, The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 have been reviewed and feedback has gone to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for their consideration.

Funding of £175,000 has been made available through British Equestrian’s Together Fund as well as £54,000 worth of resilience support, both secured from Sport England to help centres with their recovery post-Covid.

The Pony Club has supported their Linked Riding Centres by helping to keep riders engaged in non-ridden activities, utilising The Pony Club Badge Training Pathway, as Centres navigate the current horsepower and staffing challenges. This has offered a way for Centres to continue to build a client base with reduced demand on existing resources. The Pony Club also increased the revenue share of Centre Membership to offer greater financial support and Pony Club Centre Coordinators continue to offer ongoing guidance and resources to help maintain fun, friendship and the horsemanship skills needed for riders of the future.

Workforce support has come from the Career Transition Fund established by the BHS to help them progress qualifications while British Equestrian launched a bursary programme which funds new or existing coaches at 50 per cent to help with their qualifications. The BHS is also approved centres with financial skills and business support workshops. British Equestrian is also engaged in a project to map out coaching qualifications and continuous professional development requirements across the federation.

The BHS introduced its ‘Second Chance’ project, piloted in 2019, which rehomes mistreated and rescued horses into BHS approved centres where staff are equipped to rehabilitate these horses. Linking centres to equines in need is helping towards the horsepower issues while giving the horses a chance to have a better life.

Mandana Mehran Pour, Head of Participation at British Equestrian said: “Last year’s survey gave us considerable insight and a great deal of encouragement in that most riding establishments were optimistic about their future. However, there are enormous challenges for them and, working with our member bodies, we want to further understand these issues and how best we can support them. In the survey of 2022, riding establishments were working hard on their post-Covid recovery and within 12 months are now faced with the cost of living crisis and a significant rise in operational expenses which makes this research more important than ever.

“Working collaboratively, we’ve already introduced a number of initiatives to support centres who are registered with organisations in the federation which have gone some way to help them short term with plans to work on long term viability as we strive to balance out the ‘supply and demand’ situation we currently face.”