Research proves horses make peoples lives better – with a social value of £1.2bn

Equestrianism generates £1.2bn in social value every year, is the headline figure from groundbreaking research that it is hoped will help the industry grow and thrive.

The results of research carried out by British Equestrian (BEF) and social value experts State of Life were “proudly” revealed by the BEF at a launch event on 3 October.

“Horses change lives,” said BEF CEO Jim Eyre at the event. “This is a truism for us in the know, but how do we prove it and articulate it to those that don’t? Today we’ll be putting the numbers and personal stories together, to give you that evidence.”

As well as details of the social value figures and what these mean, guests including UK Sport, Sport England and government representatives heard from those whose lives have been changed by horses.

Mr Eyre explained that the research is part of a long-term project to calculate the value of equestrianism, first with Sheffield Hallam University and the Sport and Recreation Alliance on the benefits. State of Life then used the stage one findings, and sector-level and national data, to “calculate a monetary figure on equestrian social value and show that equestrian activity can be a vital contributor to public health”.

“Together this paints a powerful picture,” Mr Eyre said. “Equestrian delivers substantial public benefit, far beyond our great sporting achievement. Today isn’t about commercial turnover, it’s about evidencing far greater value, that equestrianism is good for the economy, people and communities.

“We all know the personal value of caring for, training, hacking or competing with a horse; the physical and mental health benefits. They teach children important life skills; responsibility, love, positivity, as well as dealing with disappointment and managing frustration. But now with this project, the team has actually been able to put a figure to the value of that.

“And why do this now? In a period of national fiscal challenges, grassroots facilities like riding schools, community assets, are under real threat. They are the engine room of our sport, they are the entry point to the world of horses and they allow confidence and connection, particularly for those that may not otherwise have these opportunities.

“As the national conversation shifts into increased physical activity, prevention of long-term health issues, mental wellbeing, inclusion, community resilience, equestrianism can and must be part of that solution. We need to be able to articulate our story better, speak in the accepted language and somehow cut through to educate and inform and change perception.

“You’ll see and hear evidence today, not just the research, but through candid first-hand experiences, of how contact with horses enriches lives. You know it, but we need to parcel it better.”

Lizzie Trotter, a social value expert from State of Life, went through the figures (see box), explaining that the £1.2bn overall value means about £2,000 per adult participant, £3,500 for each young person. Simon Shibli, who worked for Sheffield Hallam during the research, explained why this is important.

“We’re trying to put a monetary value on something that doesn’t have an obvious market or monetary value,” he said. “One reason we’re doing this is to appeal to the policy context. So it’s great we’ve got Sport England and UK Sport in the room.

“We have government policy about getting active, and we have Sport England uniting the movement. We also have in Sport England a new chief executive, Simon Hayes, who apparently is very interested in numbers and metrics. So in terms of demonstrating your worth to the people who control the purse strings, it’s very important we have this kind of evidence.”

Professor Shibli said the Government strategy for sport has five outcome areas – physical and mental health, community and individual development and economic. His co-presenter, Ricky Boardman, from the Sport and Recreation Alliance, explained how equestrianism achieves all of them.

“For physical health, the good news is that the elements of equestrian activity are consistently recognised as meeting the thresholds for moderate intensity physical activity per week, so we access all the benefits associated with physical activity,” he said. “But there are specific studies producing interesting findings.”

Mr Boardman said five minutes of riding at walk has been found to cause 500 neuromotor inputs, signals that control muscle, every five minutes. Research has found that equine therapy has significant benefits to people with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and autism spectrum disorder. And riding – a real rather than a mechanical horse – may improve chronic back pain.

Further research has found that 50% of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms showed “marked improvement” during and after equine therapy.

“They used MRI scans to look at brain function and found [changes in] areas of the brain associated with emotion processing and reward circuitry,” he said. “Equine-assisted therapy really helps rebuild those neural pathways and that helps produce improved calmness and ability to empathise, emotional control, sympathy, trust – all these benefits of the horse that everybody in this room is going to know about.

“But critically, the point of this study is that it’s not just horse enthusiasts talking about it, it’s objectively measured. It is true. It’s not just an anecdote. It now has hard evidence to back it up.”

Some 90 research papers addressing mental wellbeing showed that for people who had usually never engaged with horses, equine intervention improves attendance and attainment at school, reduces poor and increases good behaviour, reduces gaming addiction and even domestic violence.

“Papers also indicated that horsemanship skills are associated with positive life skills and volunteers found their career prospects increased as a result of that volunteering.

“And on community development, we’ve touched on how many people have made friends through these networks, and that’s borne out.

“One study found working with horses not only increased the frequency and the variety of words autistic patients were able to utter after intervention, but also that that benefit was sustained after the project was closed.”

Panel discussions featured people whose lives have been changed by horses, including Jhemar Jonas, who lost his older brother to knife crime, Khianna Lucas-Young, who lost her sight as a child, and Jenny Ellis, who was told she would never amount to anything.

Jhemar was introduced to horses by charity Power of Polo and is now a youth worker who advocates for the power of horses. Khianna won her class at the Riding for the Disabled Association national championships this year and Jenny is an international groom, working at championships across the world.

Khianna, who was diagnosed with leukaemia at seven, then developed neuromyelitis optica, a condition of the nervous system, which temporarily paralysed her from the neck down and caused her to lose her sight permanently.

“Losing my vision, especially as a young teenager, really affected my mental health,” she said. “I was under mental health care and there was talk of medication and all sorts. But I didn’t have to go through that, luckily. I had over a year of counselling but the thing that really brought me through, because I was in a really dark place – no pun intended – was horses.”

Jenny said she was told as a young person she was “as thick as pudding”. She described watching others achieve while she “spiralled downhill”, into a world of sexual and physical abuse and poor mental health.

“All that time, the pony I found was my best mate,” she said. “He was the only one that I could talk to about any of this and he absolutely saved me. Horses have been the scaffolding of my life. They absolutely saved my life and they’ve given me life.”

Changing direction

Jhemar said that the death of his brother sent him in a direction he managed to change thanks to horses.

“Where I come from, we’re used to shootings and stabbings on a regular basis,” he said. So it’s quite easy for young people to think, ‘Violence is the way we do things.’ But whoever you are, wherever you come from, horses humble you. You see them and think, ‘Maybe I’m not as bad as I thought I was!’ It was humbling but in the most beautiful way.

“The experience you have once you’re connected is something unlike anything else. Every time you’re on a horse, you blow your mind again.”

Jhemar now works with young people who are at the highest risk.

“One thing I’m inspired about is that I get to show a lot of other young people that look like myself, that actually it’s possible,” he said. “I feel it’s definitely something that has potential to start conversations between a lot of communities like mine and others.

“A lot of people in the horse world mirror horses’ values. One thing I love about the equestrian world, I meet people from walks of life, people that have had money for decades and we’ve always had that mutual respect and like wanting to know about each other.”

What happens next?

The BEF’s Abigail Bevan covered the “what next”, what this proof will mean for the horse world.

“This is just the launch,” she said. “This isn’t the end. This is just the end of the start.”

Ms Bevan added that a big priority is to use the social value of riding schools, which shows how important they are, to help them thrive.

“We’re already beginning work on how we use this, how we help riding schools, look at funding,” she said. “And how are we going to continue this conversation? We’ve been talking with Sport England, but it’s also for us to speak to government and health and education providers.

“All these figures and findings will really help open up those conversations for us, and the next steps are to make sure we keep the momentum going, keep learning and roll this out, keeping working with the Government and continuing the conversation.

“The report concludes: “This report is a turning point for equestrianism and the industry that lies behind it. It can act as both a mirror, reflecting what we already know about the life-changing impact of the equestrian industry and a megaphone, amplifying that message with robust, Treasury-aligned evidence.

“In a policy environment focused on impact, inclusion and value for money, we now have the data to demonstrate our worth. What is needed next is stronger advocacy, better infrastructure and more strategic support to ensure this value is protected, developed and multiplied for future generations.”

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