The equine industry includes: riding schools and livery yards; competition yards; studs; instructors; working horses; clubs and hunts; diversified equine activities; and racing yards.

The horse industry’s gross output is approximately £3.4 billion, but this figure is not reliable.  The industry employs 50,000 people directly and an additional 100,000-200,000 people indirectly.  There are approximately 8,000 businesses.

Key statistics on the industry:

• 97.5% of businesses employ less than 10 people
• 54.5% of proprietors are female
• 66.8% of staff are female
• proprietors are commonly aged 45-54 years
• staff are commonly aged 20-24 years
• 74.5% of employees are aged below 35 years
• 13.7% aged over 45 years
• 12% of all establishments report vacancies, 7% of which are hard-to-fill
• 1.7% report that hard-to-fill vacancies are the result of skill shortages

The highest numbers of enrolments in equine are in further education.  Enrolments in England have increased by 11% and core funding has increased by approximately 20%.

In the UK, there were just over 1,500 enrolments in higher education in 2003/04.  However, employers have reported that students on degree courses have insufficient contact with horses.

Work-based learning achieved over 3,500 enrolments in the equine industry.  Employers value work-based learning, on the job training and skills development.

Specific future skill needs:

• practical and technical skills, particularly amongst the younger entrants
• animal welfare and general horse care skills for lower level staff
• customer care, communication skills and health and safety
• basic horse care skills
• marketing and communication skills, particularly for owners

There are skills shortage of the required level of staff with animal welfare and general horse care skills, plus customer care, communication skills and health and safety.  There is also a shortage of individuals happy to work at the lower levels of basic groom/ stable hand and teaching staff, especially at Preliminary Teaching Test and Assistant Instructor level.  Amongst instructors/coaches and assistant trainers, there are skill shortages for technical skills, instructor skills, coaching and management related skills.  Training of trainers will be needed to ensure that people acquire the new skills needed for the future.

12% of employers report a vacancy, of which 7% report vacancies are hard-to-fill and almost 2% are reported as skill shortage vacancies.

In the future, managers and supervisors will continue to be difficult to recruit.  As farms diversify and the leisure industry grows, demand for equine services will increase.

Industry drivers affecting future work and employment include:

• changing animal health and welfare legislation requiring higher professional standards and duty of care by all owning and dealing with animals
• increasing health and safety measures
• changing business practices such as globalisation, diversification, new techno logy and products, together with changing consumer behaviour and employment law
• legislative frameworks for environment and waste management, and land and buildings management
• demographic and labour trends affecting recruitment and retention in the industry
• increasing trends in competition and leisure sport
• growing importance of volunteers

Source: Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1: Key Drivers of Skill Demand 2005, Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1: Annex 2.7 2005 and Equine Industry report 2005

For regional distribution of businesses and employees in the industry see:

Proportion of equine businesses and workforce by region and nation, 2005