GM, partner. This is The Oxer. The newsletter that takes you out of your tack room and into the global equestrian industry.
🐴 Here’s what we’ve got for you today:
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Wild Horses Save the Climate: Where the connection exists.
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Another British Revolution: This time with equestrian.
What happened?!
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prioritized private interests over the protection of wild horses and their habitats on public lands.
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The 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed to protect wild horses, but the BLM has continued to remove them from their natural habitats.
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The BLM has ignored federal regulations requiring the creation of Herd Management Area Plans.
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Mining and livestock grazing have been allowed to destroy wild horse habitats.
Our jump on the subject
This is more than an homage to the importance of wild horses (and to a great song). This piece published on The Nevada Independent suggests that there’s an imbalance between how the U.S. government treats livestock versus wild animals.
Legislation was passed in 2020 by the U.S. Congress for the BLM to create herd management area plans which are allegedly “essential for the survival of wild horses”. However, none of the 177 herd management areas have implemented a new plan.
What happened?!
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Fewer households in Britain own a horse, but more people are participating in equestrian sport, according to the British Equestrian Trade Association’s National Equestrian Survey.
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The estimated proportion of the British population that has been riding in the last 12 months has remained similar to 2018 at 4.8%.
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The estimated number of regular riders has increased to 1.82 million.
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Weekly riders account for 26%.
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The survey found a decline in the number of households responsible for daily horse upkeep.
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Positive signs for the equestrian sport and industry were noted.
Our jump on the subject
In a previous Oxer edition, we covered the UK’s decline in riding schools but increasing demand in rider students. More specifically, the UK has lost “more than 1.5 million riding lessons in a year,” yet “most centres were reporting a waiting list of 50 clients or more.”
Signs of a distressed equestrian economy also include the underpaying of grooms.
This is all in spite of the fact that demand for riding lessons is increasing in Britain.
Take your time to digest these stories and let us know what you think by replying.
You have hay in your hair,
The Oxer
