By Jean Llewellyn
A Market Survey has been conducted on behalf of the German Equestrian Federation by IPSOS (Studie des Marktforschungsunternehmens IPSOS): Around 11.2 million interviewed people replied they had an interest in horses and horse sport. Only people aged 14 or over were asked, however.
The study also determined the number of equestrian athletes in Germany: 2.32 million people refer to themselves as riders*, of which 840,000 ride regularly, 1.48 million ride occasionally. Some 700,000 people stated they would like to ride or get back into the sport.
* The term ‘rider’ always includes drivers, vaulters, and everyone who actively engages in any way whatsoever with horses, for example in groundwork.
There are around 600,000 horse-owning households in Germany and 920,000 households with a riding partnership. According to projections, the number of privately owned horses is about 1.25 million. Nearly one-third are kept in private stables, the majority (around 45%) is stabled in pension [livery] businesses. The rest live in yards without an in- or outdoor riding arena.
Typical rider
According to the IPSOS study, riders who are regularly active are mainly female (78%), on average 38 years old, well educated, and mostly, fully, or at least partly employed. For most it’s the close relationship to the horse and the closeness to nature that are reasons for practising equestrian sports. Riders live predominantly in towns with less than 100,000 inhabitants. The smallest proportion live in large cities. The net household income is in some cases significantly higher than the German average.
All of the subsequent figures relate to the year 2021... To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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