El sector ecuestre y la economía

Abstract

The horse has been an ever-present ally of man throughout history. The roles that the horse has played in human life have always been shaped by the human needs in each historical moment. The most recent change in the horse’s roles has taken place approximately since the sixties of the last century, and has had so much importance that can be characterized by the expression of Equestrian Revolution. Nevertheless, the number of consumers who desire to satisfy their new needs through horse-related activities, and that of those who respond to the demand are different in each of the countries, where the change has occurred at both the level of demand and the production structures of the horse industry, in order to sustainably satisfy the new needs with a clear vision in mind, for human development and wellbeing. The core issue is to study the conditions, which have taken place in the countries where the horse industry has developed significantly. In order to carry out the study, the countries, where horseracing and/or equestrian disciplines were practiced in the analyzed years were compared to all countries of the world ranked on the basis of economic indicators. Indicators from the sub-sectors of horseracing and equestrian were extracted from their international umbrella organizations, which permitted the classification of all countries. The principal conclusion of the study is that the changes in equestrian demand has been driven by economic conditions, especially in those aspects, which affect human development and can be measured by the human development index. The changes, which have occurred in the countries characterized by high and very high human development, have generated effects on the equestrian demand, which has also driven changes in the supply of horses and horse-related activities producing huge magnitude of economic impacts as a contribution to the economy at the national level.