Equestrianism's social license to operate: assumptions, reality and the future

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.