You have probably heard about “social license to operate,” which really means public acceptance. If you haven’t heard about it, you probably will soon. This article explains what a social license is, why having it is important for the future of horse sport, and what we can all do to maintain our standing with the public.

What is Social License to Operate?

When we hear the word “license,” most of us think of a signed permit that gives somebody permission to do something. A social license to operate isn’t a piece of paper signed by anybody. You can’t apply for one. And it isn’t something that you can award to yourself.

As stated earlier, the term “social license to operate” really means “public acceptance.” That acceptance is something that the people who engage in an activity (such as riding horses) need to earn by meeting the public’s expectations for responsible behaviour. When this happens, the public will trust those people to continue with their activity without outside interference. In other words, these people have a social license to do what they do.

What happens if a group of people fails to meet the public’s expectations?

There is a serious risk that public trust—and therefore the industry’s social license—will be lost if the people who engage in an activity or industry fail to meet the public’s expectations. The publicity and pressure surrounding this loss of public trust often leads to regulatory or legislative intervention. In other words, the industry might end up having rules and regulations imposed on it by outsiders. Society could ban the activity in extreme cases.

Could this happen in the horse world?

It already has. Thoroughbred racing in the United States is now overseen by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). Jump racing has all but disappeared in Australia and is under pressure in the UK. Riding will be lost from modern pentathlon after the 2024 Olympics.

These changes all occurred—in part or in whole—as a result of public concerns about horse sport.

These aren’t isolated examples. There is growing criticism from people both inside and outside the horse world of almost every equestrian sport that exists. If this situation isn’t handled well, there is a serious risk that these sports could be subject to external regulation. Or we could lose them altogether.

Why is this happening now?

The public’s ethical stance is changing. People are questioning activities that most people previously found acceptable. But this is how it has always been.

People thought that bear-baiting and cock-fighting were acceptable past times. Today, they are generally regarded as abhorrent.

A move toward greater ethical concern for horses used in sport represents a further evolution of public concern for the welfare of animals. We need to accept this, not fight it, and see this challenge to what we do as an opportunity to evolve our standards and our sport.

What lies at the heart of the challenge to equestrianism’s social license?

Undoubtedly, there are concerns about the accessibility and environmental sustainability of equestrianism. But, right now, equine welfare is by far the greatest public concern.

What should we do to maintain (or regain?) equestrianism’s social license?

Luckily for us, there is a wealth of information about what an industry should do to maintain public trust, some of which is shown below. Importantly, most of us can put most of this into action—and we need to.

Social license isn’t an issue where we can sit back and expect somebody else to sort it out. This is our problem—all of us. It will take our collective involvement to restore public confidence in the horse world.

It doesn’t matter whether your interest centers around a horse that is destined for the Olympics, a senior horse that is still being ridden, or one that spends its days munching grass in a paddock.

How you manage your horse, the decisions you make that affect its welfare and happiness, and the way that you talk about your horse both within ‘horsey’ circles and in conversation with the outside world shape the public’s opinion of whether keeping horses for our own entertainment or profit is an acceptable thing to do.

What We Can Do

Shown in the lists below are the most important things we can do today.

Attitude

  • Move toward the public’s values.
  • Before you think about how you should do something to or with a horse, ask yourself if you should do it at all.
  • Interact with your horse as if the world is watching.
  • Embed an expectation of good equine welfare across the entirety of equestrianism.
  • If you aren’t sure about the welfare effects of a practice, give the horse the benefit of the doubt.
  • Be open and transparent with the public about welfare issues.
  • In everything that you do, think about:
    • What the horse is feeling, both physically and mentally;
    • How you could make life more fun for your horse.
  • Don’t wait until something becomes an issue—see it coming and be proactive about optimising welfare.

Actions

  • Learn what good welfare means—depending on your background, you might have to learn about new topics such as welfare science and equine behaviour.
  • Find out how horses learn (learning theory) and base your training, both under saddle and on the ground, on its principles.
  • Welcome independent scrutiny of equestrian sport and act on experts’ recommendations.
  • Work with other sports to enhance welfare and standardise rules.
  • Change the rules so that good welfare is rewarded and horses experiencing poor welfare are marked down or eliminated in competition.
  • Commission research to find out about the welfare effects of controversial practices.
  • Keep up with new information about equine science and welfare and change your practice accordingly.
  • Learn about human behaviour change science.

Communications

  • Tell the world the good stuff about how we look after horses’ welfare, but don’t sugar coat it. Openness, transparency, and honesty are powerful tools in winning trust.
  • Consider using alternatives for some of the horse world’s traditional terminology (e.g., “backing a horse” rather than “breaking in a horse”).
  • Remember to thank people whose behaviour makes life easier for you and your horse (e.g., those who slow down when driving past you on the road).

See the list of resources with further information listed below under Additional Resources.

Final Words About Social License to Operate

If the horse world can evolve in a way that prioritises the welfare of horses, it will secure its future. If it does not, its future will be dictated by the public and politicians. The choice is ours.

Further Reading

  • The Global Trade in Donkey Skins. Dr. Joe Collins. MySeniorHorse.com
  • Dr. Janet Douglas author bio. MySeniorHorse.com
  • Paper that discusses what social license is, how it is relevant to the horse world, and what equestrianism can do to maintain public acceptance, with a focus on what other industries have done; the full paper is free to access.
  • Recommendations made by an international team of experts on how societal concerns related to the use of horses in sport should be addressed, and how we can all ensure that equine welfare is safeguarded through ethical, evidence-based policy and practices.
  • Paper that focuses on social license in the context of wildlife-use industries. Contains numerous lessons for equestrianism (full paper requires payment/subscription, but the abstract is free).
  • Paper that summarises the current situation regarding social license and equestrianism (full paper requires payment/subscription, but the summary and excerpts are free).
  • Book that provides a first-hand account of McDonald’s journey as the company successfully navigated a range of societal issues, including animal welfare. Contains numerous lessons for equestrianism.
    • Langert B. The Battle to do Good: Inside McDonald’s Sustainability Journey. Emerald Publishing Ltd. 2019. ISBN-10: 1787568164; ISBN-13: 978-1787568167
  • Paper that considers how horse sport could move toward greater public acceptance, in the context of the controversy that surrounded the 2023 Grand National steeplechase race.
    • Pearson, G.; Douglas, J.; Wolframm, I.; Furtado, T. Used like Pawns or Treated like Kings? How Narratives around Racehorse Welfare in the 2023 Grand National May Affect Public Acceptance: An Informed Commentary. Animals (Basel). 2023;13:3137. doi: 10.3390/ani13193137.
  • Recording of a United States Equestrian Federation meeting on social license in equestrianism.
  • Online conference that focusses primarily on what other industries have done to maintain their social license; includes speakers with expertise in horse racing, elite equestrian sport, fast food, the livestock industry, understanding what the public thinks, and human behaviour change science.
  • Short webpage that summarises information about social license and provides links to other relevant resources.
  • 20-minute video that provides summaries information about social license and suggests some strategies that we can all use to safeguard the future of our sport.
    • World Horse Welfare. Social licence is increasingly important in horse sport and leisure—find out why. Available at: https://youtu.be/LcUmm7os3qE
  • Assessing Quality of Life in the Older Horse. Dr. Merry Smith. MySeniorHorse.com

  • Janet Douglas, MA, Vet MB, MSc, PhD, AFHEA, currently works primarily for World Horse Welfare, an NGO that works in the UK and internationally to educate horse owners, influence government policy, conduct research, and provide care for equids—from working equids to elite sport.
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