A Blinkered Approach? Attitudes Towards Children and Young People in British Horseracing and Equestrian Sport

Abstract

This paper will consider the ways in which children take part in two distinct branches of horse sport, equestrianism and horseracing, focusing on their historical separateness and their more recent rapprochement through the development of pony racing. Using material from a recent study of children and horseracing, it will demonstrate that most racecourses still see youngsters as passive consumers rather than active participants while preliminary research into the specifically child-centred equestrian organisation, the British Pony Club, suggests a participant culture and an institution prepared to countenance change.