Economical assessments of the saddle horse industry in Europe: what tools for common data?

Unlike other animal productions mainly oriented towards food production, the horse industry has no common economic databases at the European level and consequently remains invisible to European stakeholders. In order to try solving this problem, we tested a comparative analysis on key variables (numbers of animals, firms, employments…) published by the saddle horse industry between seven European countries: F-France, G-Germany, UK-United Kingdom, B-Belgium, N-Nederland, S-Sweden and I-Ireland. If all countries pointed out the total amount of horses, only three of them (F, G, I) specified the number of horses specialized in sport and leisure, or for breeding. Each country identified the exact number of licensed riders but estimated a total amount of practitioners without specifying methods. The number of firms varied greatly between countries according to administrative statutes and main activities. The assessment of jobs appeared comparable: 10 to 12 horses to create one full-time in leisure activities (I, S) and only 4 to 5 horses in competition activities (G, I). Finally, two methods were mainly used to assess the global economic weight of this industry: the total turnover of all firms from breeding to the various equestrian activities (F, G, B) or the total expenditures spent by horse owners, horse show spectators and public funds (UK, N, I). This analysis pointed out some obstacles for European professionals to elaborate common databases. The use of economic models (such as input-output analysis) should also help to assess the socio-economic impacts of equine activities at different territorial levels.