“Simply Don’t Meet”: Equestrian Yard Standards Face Rigorous Scrutiny Amidst Rising Negligence Cases

The equestrian industry is a massive industry with the complex operation of taking care of the horses. These require facilities and attract a massive cost for the service. The livery yards concept was created for those owners who didn’t have proper arrangements to keep their horses and take care of them. The owners of the livery yard charge a fee for keeping the other people’s equine at their stable and taking care of it.

However, with the unregulated structure of the industry, concerns were raised about whether such places take proper care of equines. For this purpose, a survey was conducted in Britain among the livery yard owners about the licensing of such operations, garnering a tremendous response from the owners.

Equestrian yard owners in favor of licensing

According to Horsetalk, a survey was conducted by SEIB Insurance Brokers Ltd and LiveryList about the proposed licensing of the livery yard. As per the report, almost sixty percent of the livery yard owners were supportive of the idea. The survey sample consists of 420 livery yard owners and the majority of them thought that such a step would encourage better and responsible care at the yard. Amid reports of looming deaths and neglect by yards while taking care of equine, such a system will help in keeping a check. In Scotland, the process is in consulting phase with chances to establish the licensing regime all over the country in the future.

According to Cheryl Johns, the founder of Yard Owner Hub and LiveryList, said, “Too many yard owners simply don’t meet what the industry would deem as basic ‘best practice’ in terms of equine care and customer service“. He hopes that the licensing will help the yard owners understand demands and raise the standards of their service. It will also make horse owners choose liver yards on the basis of facilities and quality of care, rather than on the cost alone.

Yard owners ask for a say in minimum standard

In the survey, it was also revealed that the majority of respondents asked for careful thought before setting the minimum standard. The minimum standard will be set for welfare, insurance, health, safety, and criteria for qualification for licensing. The livery yard offers vital service to the equestrian industry, and a clear understanding of their function, owners’ views, and welfare requirements should be met before deciding such guidelines. The licensing criteria should also keep in mind the financial struggles of the yards who are working on bare minimum profit, so additional burdens in terms of paperwork and time not be put on them.

Read More: “She Was Almost Dead Already”: Rider, Who Lost Her Horse to a Saddening Disease, Makes an Appeal to the Equestrian Community

The licensing system is an effective way to set a minimum standard of welfare and operation of the livery yards which is much needed in unregulated yard operation. This will raise the standards and take care of both the yard owner and the horse owners. Do you think this is the way forward? Let us know in the comments

Watch The Story: Essential Mistakes to Steer Clear of When Riding a Horse for the First Time