Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scotland’s equestrian sector needs better regulation

horse
horse

Scotland’s burgeoning equestrian industry lacks regulation and co-ordination, particularly in relation to animal health and welfare, it has been claimed.

A recent ‘scoping study’ published by the Rural Policy Centre at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), in conjunction with the British Horse Society (BHS) for Scotland, has called for the development of an accurate database of the number and location of horses in Scotland.

This, it said, would allow for better monitoring of disease, traceability of horse movement, more effective breeding programmes and would address the welfare concerns associated with increased horse numbers.

According to the SRUC, the study provides a ‘snapshot’ of the industry – which contributes £228million to the Scottish economy each year excluding racing – and makes recommendations to the equestrian industry, local authorities and the Scottish Government on how to further develop and strengthen the sector.

While the study concedes that more regulation would be an “additional cost to the industry”, it says the lack of regulation underpins an absence of unity and cooperation across the sector.

“The equine industry makes a big contribution to the rural economy, and has significant potential, with adequate support and guidance, to deliver integrated business and environmental benefits,” commented one of the report’s authors Gillian McKnight, from the SAC Consulting division of SRUC.

However, there is currently no national register of horse owners or breeders – nor any requirement for owners or breeders to demonstrate any knowledge of horse care or management to own or breed horses.

Helene Mauchlen, Director for BHS Scotland, who instigated the study added: “In order for our industry to compete fairly with other rural industries when it comes to recognition and funding opportunities we realised that we needed to start the ball rolling on collecting evidence on the value of the equine industry, instead of relying on figures extrapolated from the UK.

“This scoping report will hopefully point us in the right direction by identifying priorities for future work at the same time as providing a snapshot of where we are.”

The equine industry is the UK’s second biggest employer in the rural environment however the development of the industry in Scotland is being hindered by fragmented support for business and a lack of coordination.

Many new equestrian businesses are farm diversification projects or small independent businesses and they often struggle to access funding and support on issues such as land management and planning.

The report identifies areas of best practice such as the provision of quality assurance for riding and trekking centres; and it makes several recommendations in order to improve coordination and efficiency across the industry.