Having read an article in Horse and Hound today regarding people taking up riding following the incredible success at London 2012, it got me to thinking. Many non-horsey people regard the sport as elitist and exclusive, a hobby of the rich (but that's a whole other post that I've already shared), and in a time when people are scrimping and saving to even afford the essentials, it's hard to convince people to take up a sport that could potentially cost them an arm and a leg.
From a personal point of view, since I began working following my graduation, I found I was surrounded by people who neither rode nor even cared about horses. I was happy to share my hobby with people if they asked, but never spoke about it unless prompted. When I made good friends with some of my colleagues, they took to asking how my last riding lesson was, but that was as far as it went - until the Olympics. Having had my BBC Olympics app going on my phone on every break, people gradually began to watch the eventing, and then the dressage, with me. Suddenly, before I knew what had happened, people who had never been near a horse in their lives were asking me how we were doing, what our chances of getting in the medals were. When I came back off my break to (rather dramatically) announce that Charlotte Dujardin was a double gold medallist, people were unexpectedly enthusiastic. Even those that I hadn't spoken to that day came up to me a couple of days later to tell me they had watched 'the dancing horses' and thought of me, asking what it was all about and how the riders got the horses to do what they did. My friends began coming to watch my riding lessons, asking if they could come back week after week and actively enjoying it (although a couple were more scared than they would admit!).
The problem with all of this, as far as I can see, is that people already in the sport perhaps haven't done enough to encourage this influx of interest. Take my riding school for example - I haven't seen anything encouraging people to start up lessons, to find out more about the sport, and I consider this a wasted opportunity. Why not offer half price taster lessons, or open days? Why not encourage existing riders to bring partners or friends for a go to see what all of the fuss is about? I appreciate that there is a mountain of red tape to get through at equine businesses, but without new customers, how can places like this survive? Offering half price introductory lessons for a period of a month would hardly set them back a lot, especially if only 50% rebook future lessons at full price. Or if half price is too much to stomach, how about an introductory course of five or ten lessons at a slightly discounted price? Encouraging people to come back whilst making them a good offer - win-win! Lessons at my riding school cost £22 for an hour, and whilst I am willing to go without other things to afford these lessons, people new to the sport aren't likely to tolerate it, as they don't have the passion and enthusiasm already there to want to pay it.
I have felt, at times, like a one-woman publicity machine in my place of work for riding as a sport, and I'd like to think that my passion for horses encourages people to want to give it a go, but it's not up to me to convince them to take that final leap - it's up to the businesses that need the custom to find ways of making them do it. Many places have seized the moment and got more people on the books, so if they can do it, then why can't the others? Bringing more custom and money into the sport is only going to be beneficial, so what are they all waiting for?
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