Posted on 5th October 2023
Last September, British Equestrian (BEF), working with member bodies The British Horse Society (BHS), the Association of British Riding Schools (ABRS+), The Pony Club (PC), Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) and horsescotland, announced that Britain’s riding centres were facing a supply and demand dilemma. Twelve months on, according to a recent repeat of the survey, there has been little change and workforce shortages and increasing operational costs are significantly hindering any opportunity to improve.
British Equestrian and the wider federation are committed to continuing our collaboration on improving the support we offer to equestrian establishments. A great deal has been achieved following the 2022 survey, when six key action areas were identified:
A working group, which meets quarterly, has made good progress on a united front for lobbying on licencing. Funding has been made available via a number of initiatives with Sport England and member body support, while support for workforce development has been launched and a project on skills mapping for industry qualifications is nearing completion.
If you would like more information, please see the full insight pack from the survey and download a pdf of accompanying infographics.
The ABRS+ will be holding a free Webinar on 23 Oct 23 @ 12.00 hrs with Mandana Mehran Pour, Head of Participation at the BEF, who will go through the results of the 2023 Survey and discuss progress in the action areas. If you would like to join, please register at https://www.abrs-info.org/event/3260/.
