2025 is the year of progress.
If 2023 was the year of research, 2024 was the year of building, 2025 is going to be the year where everything changes.
Equine Qualifications UK CIC was born from various sources: over a decade of working in the horse industry and experiencing its flaws first hand. The duality of the experience of being completely burned out from it and walking away, whilst constantly feeling the call to return.
Those who work with horses are some of the most passionate I have ever met. You have to be: it’s physically and emotionally challenging. The biggest problem that exists within the industry boils down to the exploitation of that passion.
Passion is a currency which keeps many equestrian businesses afloat and its what makes the whole industry unstable, because it is not something that can be returned to those in the same format it is taken. Many equestrian businesses are economically not as viable or sustainable as they should be, and are propped up by the love and dedication of their staff, who are not paid or treated with the same energy that they give to the animals they care for.
While on the surface this may feel like a negative view of the industry, we have to start from where we currently are in order to make progress. Also – the reality is – it’s been like this for a long time. Whether or not anything changes, people will continue to get into the horse industry, they will continue to be exploited, and they will leave again. It’s a cycle that has gone on for decades, and can continue, even if in the long run it is unsustainable and unethical. The thing with cycles though, is they can be broken.
Exploitation occurs when those whose labour is being unfairly compensated do not know better and lack the means to make change. Equestrian staff enter the industry and are told to “take any opportunity they can get.” That they are lucky if they get to work somewhere for free. That it’s better to get experience in the industry working on a yard than it is to get educated.
Why do you think that is?
Spoiler alert: it’s not because it’s how you create the best staff. It’s how you trap people who do not know any better. When you lack diversity in your experience, you lack perspective. That lack of perspective is the first thing that keeps you in the cycle – because you don’t know what else is out there. As humans, our comfort zone is very hard to break out of. Better the devil you know.
In order for equestrian staff to have perspective, they need access to education. Education which gives them the skills and knowledge they need to tap into their own self belief that allows them to recognise their own value. This in turn allows them to better advocate for both themselves and the horses they look after.
It can be hard to identify educational opportunities in the equestrian industry – partly due to that narrative it’s ‘not needed.’ Qualifications and educational educational opportunities often lack transparency in terms of who would best benefit from them. When you’re busy, when you work with horses, spending time on things like working out how to expand your horizons isn’t top of your priority list – which is honestly fair enough. It wasn’t on mine for years, either.
The thing is though, it shouldn’t be as hard as it currently is. It can actually be incredibly easy – and that’s what EQUK is here to do.
EQUK is changing the narrative around equine education.
Staff who are educated in a broad, holistic way have perspective. Perspective means that they are empowered to make choices that serve them. Staff who make choices from a place of empowerment do so in ways which expand horizons, rather than contract them. It becomes less about survival, and more about growth.
In order for equestrian businesses to become more economically viable, we have to recognise that the industry can no longer survive on the exploitation of passion alone. We have to create businesses that are diverse, that have social as well as economic goals, that are forward thinking. We have to move out of survival mode, and into thrival (? I’m coining that if it catches on) mode.
Why will this work?
- Staff with knowledge recognise their value and seek out opportunities which match it
- Staff with knowledge can better advocate for the horses in their care improving welfare standards
- Staff with knowledge can identify improvements in existing businesses and help facilitate their development
EQUK in 2025 is aiming to create the empowered equestrian generation of staff who have the practical knowledge to improve welfare standards within the industry and advocate for the social license of the sport. They have the ability to spot subtle lameness, they understand health and welfare risks, and have the knowledge to suggest changes. They can recognise good employment opportunities. They understand that more goes into a successful equestrian business than just passion: it’s about strategy, skill and mindset. Most importantly, they have the tools at their disposal to make it all happen.
How can EQUK facilitate this?
- Improve transparency around access to equestrian education. We do this by working with education providers. EQUK supports student recruitment and conversion for providers in the ways that matter ethically and economically to them – supporting widening participation and international student growth.
- Deliver initiatives that promote growth. We are developing a leadership programme and have launched a digital store that provides resources to support small equestrian businesses.
- Providing free to access support for anyone looking to develop their equestrian skills. We are only an email away.
The change in the tide is here, it’s only a matter of time until the ripples are felt. Let 2025 be the year we change the narrative around education, employment and opportunity within the equestrian industry.
You can get involved in a number of ways.