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Equestrianism's social license to operate: assumptions, reality and the future
Abstract
Horse sports and equestrian activities are high risk to the horses and people undertaking them. Societal views on using animals for human entertainment are changing and there is increased debate on how animal welfare is safeguarded. Traditional management systems that reduce opportunities for expression of normal behaviour and high levels of disease and injury in horses interacting with humans have increased public scrutiny on the use of horses by humans, resulting in equestrianism's social license to operate being questioned. A social license to operate is a virtual license from society to engage in an activity – without this, the future of equestrianism is under threat. This review explores what constitutes a social license to operate and considers how stakeholders in the equestrian sector could work together to generate an effective social license to operate to ensure horses have a good life in all aspects of their relationship with humans.
Equestrianism is popular worldwide, with millions of horses and riders participating in competitive horse sports and non-competitive leisure riding (Williams and Tabor, 2017). Horse sports and related activities contribute substantially to many global economies including the United Kingdom, where the equestrian sector was reported to have contributed £4.7 billion to the economy in 2019 (British Equestrian Trade Association, 2019). The British Equestrian Trade Association reports that approximately 3 million people regularly ride horses in the UK, with 374 000 horse-owning households. However, despite the continuing popularity of horse riding and horse sports, the high-risk nature of some equestrian activities, combined with the potential for them to cause injury or fatalities to the horses and people participating in them and the increased scrutiny of equine management and training, is resulting in increasing public scrutiny (Campbell, 2021; Douglas et al, 2022; Wolframm et al, 2023). Non-equine stakeholders are questioning humans' right to use horses for leisure and recreational purposes, while equine stakeholders often query if traditional training and management practices are ethical and necessary (Williams and Marlin, 2020; Douglas et al 2022; Brown et al, 2023). This debate has evolved, and the question of how equestrianism demonstrates it has a social license to operate in the modern era is now commonplace across all sectors of the equestrian industry. This review will reflect on what it means to have a social license to operate as a concept. It will also consider the status of equestrianism's social license to operate and what this means for different stakeholders in the equine sector. Finally, the future development of horse sports and their social license to operate will be discussed.
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