I was honoured to be invited to the 2023 National Equine Forum, attended by some of the most esteemed members of the equine veterinary profession. In the introductory session, the ‘Equine Industry in a Changing World’, the Rt Eton Lord Benyon shared DEFRA’s progress on strengthening equine traceability, trade and biosecurity, and on mitigating changes to the industry, including the loss of 16% of British riding schools. This was echoed by David Mountford of the British Horse Council, who discussed how the UK’s equine industry can join forces and engage with government to combat major issues, such as ensuring welfare in transport and managing vaccine shortages.
Roly Owers of World Horse Welfare then discussed the decline in public acceptance of the equine sport, and how we can manage this. The findings of the National Equestrian Survey 2023, which tracks trends in horse ownership and riding, were then presented by Claire Williams of the British Equestrian Trade Association. These showed a decline the number of horses owned in Great Britain and lapses in riding trends, with cost being cited as the most common reason. James Hick of the British Horse Society then discussed the need address the workforce crisis in UK riding schools, and the need to provide practical business support and continually share the potential welfare benefits of the human-horse bond. Hope was then restored as Jane Holdsworth of Radway Equestrian and Julia Coles of Pony Magic delivered a talk on how it is possible to open a new riding school, even in the midst of a global pandemic!
The topic then shifted to equine health, with the first session kicked off by Professor Celia Marr of the British Equestrian’s Equine Infectious Disease Advisory Group. Using the examples of the EHV-1 outbreak of Valencia 2021, and the rise in cases of equine flu, Professor Marr shared the group’s vaccination protocol recommendations and the ‘track-test-isolate’ strategy for managing them. Claire Stratford of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate then took the stage to introduce CANTER, a much-needed collaborative cross-sectoral initiative formed to combat the issue of growing resistance to all four classes of anthelmintics.
The afternoon session focused on tackling unwanted behaviour in equines. Dr Gemma Pearson of the Horse Trust gave a whistle-stop tour of learning theory, and invited horse owner Hannah Bryant to the stage to discuss her experiences with her troublesome horse Gavin. The audience was captivated as Gemma and Hannah demonstrated how a series of clicks and treats took Gavin from a skittish escape artist to a strong contender in British dressage events. Resident behaviour expert Tamzin Furtado then joined the panel discussion to discuss how we can manage our expectations and behaviours around our horses to improve their training.
The rest of the afternoon was dominated with talks of equine influencers and their responsibilities across the media. Chair Sarah Shephard invited Rhea Freeman, founder of an equine PR agency, Eleanor Jones, news editor of Horse and Hound, and Ashleigh Wicheard of Women in Racing to share their thoughts on the responsibilities of equine influencers. The panel discussion, chaired by Roly Owers, saw many audience members asking the participants how we can make the equine sector more accessible to a diverse audience.
The Sir Colin Spedding award was then presented to Charlotte Thorneycroft by the President of the Equine Forum, Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, in light of her efforts to save horses and their owners from the devastation caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine. HRH then delivered her insightful closing remarks, which reinforced the important theme of collaboration across the equine professions, in order to sustain and strengthen the industry as a whole.