The Equine Population of the UK

Aims

The aim of this research has been to create a picture of the equine population of the UK at the beginning of the new millennium. This has been done in as broad a fashion as time and resources would allow by a mixture of primary research in the form of questionnaire surveys and interviews and desk research with much recourse to personal communication by telephone and email.

It has involved obtaining figures for the number of horses and ponies that are registered with the breed societies; the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) affiliated sporting bodies and Weatherbys. Figures have also been sought for quantifiable sources such as serving horses with the police and the military, horses that participate in unaffiliated sports, those used in riding schools and the feral herds. Other avenues explored have included the number of equines disposed of, export and import figures and those that are resident in, or on loan from, welfare organisations. In depth interviews have been carried out with a number of the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) Field Officers to explore, amongst other things, the most common welfare problems experienced by our equine population.

On establishment of the registered numbers and using past industry surveys and insider knowledge, an attempt has been made to put a figure on the total equine population of the UK. The information obtained from this research has then been used to estimate the number of unregistered horses and to make some observations on the growth of the equine population in the UK over the last 15 years. Recommendations have been suggested for the industry and for future research.

Registered horses

There are 34,366 horses registered with the BEF affiliated sporting bodies of show jumping (18,000), eventing (7,845), dressage (6,563), driving (595), endurance (1,331) and vaulting (32)* (See FIGURE S1 below).

There are 11,366 equidae that are either resident in or rehomed on loan from Equine Welfare Centres, which is more than participate in any of the BEF affiliated sports apart from show jumping and represents 1% of the total population. The Donkey Sanctuary, Sidmouth, and the ILPH are the largest of these organisations. The semi-feral herds are in decline. There are presently a total of 9,158 ponies free-roaming in Britain, comprising of 3,500 Dartmoors, 3,978 New Forest Ponies, 200 Exmoors on Exmoor and 200 elsewhere, 800 Welsh hill ponies, 250 Fell ponies, 18 Highland ponies and 12 Eriskay ponies. There are no longer any feral Shetland herds.

The research indicates that approximately 34, 520 equines are disposed of annually, 52% going to knackers yards, 29% to abattoirs for export as horsemeat and 19% to hunt kennels. On the whole, there are currently few problems experienced with the disposal of horses in the UK, except in Scotland where the incidence of burial is believed to be high. This situation may change with the implementation of EU legislation with regard to emission controls and a potential hunting ban causing disposal of horse carcasses to become more difficult and more expensive. There is no evidence of any confirmed incidences of equines being exported alive from the UK for meat.

The figure for 125,000 for other quantifiable sources was obtained from a number of membership-only organisations, the equine educational establishments and the travelling and gypsy populations (estimated at about 5,000). For the membership-only organisations an assumption has been made of an average ownership of one horse or pony per member and allowance was made for a certain amount of overlap between the societies. There will inevitably be overlap between some of the horses categorised as quantifiable and those that are registered with other organisations and as a consequence a total for quantifiable sources has been put forward with caution. At present there is no way of knowing the incidence of overlap between the activities accounted for. For example it is quite possible for a horse to be a member of a breed society, be registered with one, or more of the affiliated sporting bodies, go hunting and for its owner be a member of the BHS and a Riding Club.

From the figures it can be seen that approximately 309,754 horses have been recorded as doing specific unregistered activities (31% of the population, see FIGURE S2). However, if the incidence of overlap is high then the number accounted for is likely to be much lower. Certain assumptions have been made about the incidence of overlap between organisations and it is felt reasonable to say that if a horse is registered with an organisation as its primary activity, it may have been quantified again under a secondary activity. The number of horses registered with the British Horse Database (BHD) (76,500) has not been included in any of the calculations (either registered or quantifiable) due to the likelihood of overlap with other registering organisations).

The total horse population figure

After careful consideration of recent research a total population figure of 975,000 equines has been put forward for the UK. The population is estimated to have doubled over the last 15 years (or has been severely underestimated in the past). This significant growth rate represents an increase of approximately 33,333 horses per annum. This added to the number disposed of annually (34,520) results in a replacement figure of approximately 70,000 horses p.a. In order to achieve this it has been established that 30% of mares of breeding age (averaged at between 5 - 15 years) are producing a foal annually. An attempt has been made to look at the distribution of the equine population. However, with the exception of Mellor's work in Scotland (1997), very little detailed study has been carried out a beyond the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) surveys of 1996 and 1999 (Produce Studies Group 1996 and 1999). Some preliminary suggestions have been put forward but investigating this further was beyond the scope of this research.

As discussed above, the total for registered horses has been estimated at 280,308. As a result, taking a total population of 975,000 means there is a proportional split of 29% registered to 71% unregistered horses. The addition of the quantifiable sources (309,754) to the total for registered horses (280,308), means that 590,062 out of a total population of 975,000 horses have been accounted for as potentially belonging to at least one of the registered or quantifiable categories considered above (or 60% of the population). This percentage of the horse population accounted for is rudimentary due to the problems of overlap discussed above but begins to give us some indication of the potential activities that the UK's horses are involved in.