Equality and diversity
Our commitment
At British Equestrian, we're fully committed to the principle of equality of opportunity, and aim to ensure that no individual receives more or less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, sex, gender, disability, race, parental or marital status, pregnancy, religion or belief, sexual orientation and gender reassignment. This includes all those involved in different capacities across the industry – participants, employees, coaches, consultants, owners, officials, volunteers and spectators.
On 8 June 2022, we annouced a united pledge with our member bodies to make a difference.
We want to make equestrianism, delivered by us and by our member bodies, an activity that's open to anyone who wishes to be involved, in whatever capacity and at whatever level they desire, and to actively encourage a more diverse range of participants and staff. We are committed to equality and diversity, and are on the path to achieving the Advanced Equality Standard.
We already meet the requirement of having at least 30% of each gender on our Board and have done for some time, and we will continue to strive towards gender balance. We're committed to increasing the diversity of the Board to more fully reflect those involved in our sport, and in time the wider population, because we know diverse boards make better decisions.
Horses for All
In 2022, we embarked on a research project to better undertand underrepesented communities and their engagement with equestrian activities and sport. Under the banner of 'Horses for All' we spent ten months working with AKD Solutions gathering data, insight and lived experiences to produce a report which we then delivered a response document which aknowleged we were strong in some areas but needed to make improvments in others to make our industry truly inclusive and equal. Our commitmemts were laid out over the short, medium and long term and progress continues to be made.
In November 2023, we proudly launched our equality and inclusion strategy, retaining the title 'Horses for All' as this is our ultimate aim. This ambitious document was put togehter with a federation-wide working group with representatives from the industry and leading expertise so we have a representative strategy which provides the vision, mission and objectives which we, and our member bodies, will then use to develop action plans.
Horses for All strategy november 2023
Horses For All report summary and response APRIL 2023
Horses For All six month UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2023
Horses For All: one year on january 2025
What we are doing
We implement our commitments around equality and diversity through an Equal Opportunities and Equality Policy. Following the publishing of our Horses for All strategy, we're currently reviewing this document and we'll published an updated version very soon.
Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan 2024 - 28
Our Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan details how we'll work to bring the vision and mission outlined in our diversity and inclusion strategy to life and drive the change in culture to acheive our aims - essentially, our 'roadmap'. Launched in September 2024, it covers our short term objectives.
bef diversity and inclusion action plan 2024 - 28
Equality Engagement Group
Formation of a group with members from the equestrian world who are representative of or delivering to diverse communities. The group's aim is to improve equality and accessibility within equestrian sport, meaning that anybody who wishes to participate has the ability to do so.
Equality Engagement Group members
Equality engagement group terms of reference