Horses and the rural economy in the United Kingdom

The horse industry is large and varied, but until comparatively recently its contribution to the economy of the UK has been virtually ignored and this, together with the disparate nature and small size of the individual businesses involved, has resulted in a general lack of universally available data. What is undoubtedly true, however, is that the horse touches upon the professional and recreational aspects of many peoples' lives and that, without the horse, not only would a significant proportion of the rural working population be unemployed but many ancillary industries would have considerably less work available. This paper reinforces the concept of the horse being at the centre of a large, though disparate and dispersed industry and, what is more, that it is an industry of essential importance both to the welfare of the countryside and to the economic viability of the UK. It also attempts to quantify the size of the horse industry based upon limited information. The paper concludes that 125,000 people (expressed in full time equivalents) are employed directly, there are 600,000 horses and an economic contribution in excess of 1000 m Pounds.