The horse riding market - Italy

1.2 World market

The equine industry includes many sectors such as equestrian centers or riding equipment.The global horse industry market was valued at nearly $*** billion in **** and involved *.* million full-time jobs[***].

The largest market is Europe, valued at $*** billion, followed by the U.S., valued at $*** billion, and Canada, $** billion.

Riding market by country World, ****, percent EIA

Though the U.S. market is not the largest, it employs the largest number of employees in the industry, ***,***, and, in turn, the largest number of horses, *.* million.

Source: ****

If we focus specifically on the riding equipment market, we can see from the graph below that the trend is increasing in the size of this market with a CAGR (***) of *.*% between **** and ****. Therefore, it is estimated that this market, valued at US$*.**** billion in ****, will reach a value of US$*.**** billion in ****.

Evolution de la taille du marché de l'équipement d'équitation Monde, ****-****, en milliards de dollars américains Source: ****

1.3 Italian market

The Italian equestrian market involves equestrian centers, equestrian equipment manufacturers, breeders, trainers and students. According to a study carried out by FISE (***) and LUISS University, in ****, the market reading on the growth of the sports sector highlights how Equestrian Sports turns out to be a resource of the country, with spillovers ranging from *.* to * billion euros to the GDP, with **** million in annual spending generated directly by equestrian practitioners.

Considering that in ****, the number of FISE card-carrying members was ****** athletes and the expenditure made by them was **** million euros, the expenditure of cada one was **** euros. Using this same number and multiplying it by the number of card-carrying members in each year gives the annual expenditure generated directly by practitioners from **** to ****.

Expenditure of Fise card-carrying members by riding Italy, ****-****, euros Fise

1.4 Impact of Covid

The Covid-** pandemic has hit the horse world with disastrous financial, employment and animal health consequences. The analysis of the industry was presented at the last general assembly of FEEVA (***), which assembled reports from the equine industry, breeding and sports federations.

Restrictions, suspension of activities, and inability to move or transport equids have prevented owners from properly caring for their horses. Veterinary Doctors have not always been able to reach the equids in their care and provide them with the proper preventive and care treatments. With the pandemic, the risk of abandonment or insufficient care has significantly increased.The pandemic resulted in the closure of events, tourism, and training. Demand for all activities with equids dropped dramatically, horse racing stopped in most parts of the world (***).

In the two years of the pandemic, stables, such as gyms and cultural centers, between closures and restrictions, were among the sectors most affected by the pandemic, with the following being the timetable of closures and openings for stores and sports centers:

2.1 Sports practice in Italy

According to the ISTAT website, in ****, **.* percent of the Italian population practiced some kind of sport, specifically **.* percent of Italians continuously, *.* percent irregularly, and **.* percent practiced some kind of sport.

Italian population and sports Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

the data show that the most active segment of the population is male. Specifically, **.* percent of the Italian male population and **.* percent of the Italian female population practice sports.

Italian male population and sports Italy, ****, in % Source: ****

Italian female population and sport Italy, ****, in % source: Istat

At the territorial level, the regions where the most sports are practiced are in the North, where ** percent of the population plays sports continuously, while in the South this figure drops to around ** percent. The mountain regions of Valle d'Aosta and Trentino-Alto Adige have the highest number of sportsmen.

In addition, CONI, annually stipulates the ranking of the sports clubs with the most members and the federations with the most sports clubs. In ****, the ranking by number of registered athletes sees FIGC (***).

Sports federations by number of athletes Italy, ****, number of athletes Source: ****

at the level of sports clubs, the ranking changes slightly, on the podium are both FIGC, FIPAV, FIP and FIT but, instead of FIDAL; in ...

2.riding in Italy 2

In Italy, the federation of reference for equestrian sports is FISE, Federazione Italiana Sport Equestri, recognized by CONI, which is recognized as the sole representative of equestrian sports at the Olympic level for Italy.

The disciplines promoted by FISE are

Olympic disciplines: Full competition Dressage Show jumping Paradressage (***)

Non-Olympic disciplines and equestrian activities: Attacks Endurance Reining Vaulting Horse-Ball Polo Country riding and equestrian tourism

The federation cards both athletes and horses. The number of registered athletes in **** is ****** athletes and ***** horses. The number of athletes decreased between **** and **** by **% while the number of horses increased between **** and **** by **%. Some clarifications must be made, however, first, not all FISE card-carrying members can be considered actual practitioners; in fact, some of them (***) do not appear to be in possession of riding authorizations or other patents and must therefore be considered only formally practitioners. Second, FISE cardholders represent a subset of practitioners of sport riding activities. In fact, Fitetrec-Ante card-carrying members, as well as members of sports promotion organizations that engage in equitation activities, must be added to them.

FISE registered athletes and horses Italy, ****-****, unity FISE

The FISE federation ranks third among federations in terms of the number of female registered athletes, ...

2.3 Startup

As in many other industries, technology has also reached the riding market.

Other start-ups are springing up in the equestrian field, such as the Equimov web platform, which enables online booking of accommodation (***) and equestrian activities throughout Europe.

2.4

3.1 Riding company

In Italy in **** there were **** clubs registered with FISE, hosting *** thousand riding students. The number of societies is increasing slightly, from **** to **** within * years, + **.*%.

Number of equitation societies Italy, ****-****, units FISE

Societies are scattered throughout the territory and tend to be proportional to the number of inhabitants in each region, with Lombardy and Lazio in the top two positions.

3.2 Players in the field

There are several players in the field of horseback riding who deal with different aspects in the field of horseback riding.

3.3 Other related markets

The riding market is in turn linked to many other markets, such as those for animal care and welfare or those for sports equipment and clothing.

Saddlery and boot stores: artisan workshops for the manufacture and repair of saddles, harnesses, and boots for horseback riding.

Source: ****

Feed: manufacturers and distributors, wholesalers and retailers of horse feed and feed supplements.

Source: ****

Farrier: artisan who forges irons and applies them to the hooves of cattle and horses.

Source: ****

3.5

4.1 Offer in riding stables

There is a wide variety of activities recognized by the FISE and offered by equestrian centers and various clubs in the equine sector. Therefore, most equestrian centers and clubs offer the opportunity for riders to train for one or more of these activities in order to then participate in the competition associated with the discipline in question. The main disciplines are summarized in the table below.

Source: ****

4.2 Expenditure items

As mentioned above, horseback riding is one among the exclusive sports as it implies a considerable expense both for the various lessons and for the care of the animal itself, as well as the initial expense of buying it. On the basis of the questionnaires administered and the estimates provided by FISE to supplement them, it was possible to calculate the average costs per unit of reference related to each of the activity classes identified, broken down by the individual expense items investigated. The expenditure items are diverse:

For horses

For the equestrian center

For the jockey

For competitions

For the participant

Source: ****

4.3 Races and events

Horse races are events that move a large amount of money. It may sound a bit brutal to hear, but horse racing is the largest gambling portal in the world, also frequented by multimillionaires from different countries.

As is well known, some famous horse races are also gala events, which include weekends where many celebrities from the international jetset meet.

Source: ****

At the Italian level, the best known horse race for historical reasons is the Palio di Siena. The Palio di Siena is a competition between the Contrade of Siena in the form of an equestrian joust of medieval origin.The "career," as the race is traditionally called, normally takes place twice a year: on July * the Palio is run in honor of Our Lady of Provenzano (***), and on August ** that in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption. There is no prize money.

5.1 Regulations

The Italian Equestrian Sports Federation, issues regulations that horses and riders must follow for their own safety and for competitions, "General Regulations Concerning Horses and Riders." The regulations were issued and came into effect on Monday, January **, ****.

FISE wanted to devote great attention to the issue of rider safety by including among the first Federations in the world a number of prescriptions, including:

*) the obligation for all under-**s when riding horses to wear a fastened protective helmet, while for other riders the obligation applies only when they carry out jumping activities;

*) the obligation as of May *, ****, for all under-**s to use -when mounting a horse- body armor, at least in the back protector type. Exempted are the discipline of Vaulting and Pony Club activities, Mounted Games, saddle putting and further activities carried out underhand.

A series of important indications that have the task of emphasizing all the cautions to be observed in the practice of equestrian sport, with the ultimate goal of minimizing and limiting to the maximum any risk, with prudent behaviors.

An entire section is reserved for respect for the horse and all the safeguards to ensure its necessary well-being. These are rules that already ...

5.2

6.1 Segmentation

• Antica Selleria Racasi
• Lara Broggi Benessere Equino
• Mangimi Moretti
• Ippomed
• Ippodromo partenopeo S.r.l
• Hippo Group
• Horse Club Rapallo
• Il Cavaliere Country Club
• Centro Ippico San Martino