Public image has been on the minds of many in horse racing more in the past few years than ever before. Stakeholders in the sport are becoming increasingly familiar with the phrase “social license to operate,” a term that refers to the tolerance of the general public for an activity, independent of its legality.
World Horse Welfare, a UK-based charity, has dedicated significant resources to studying the social license of various equestrian sports. Recently, two of the charity's representatives co-authored a paper in the academic journal Animals reviewing the social license of equestrian sports and comparing them to other industries.
Article authors looked at other animal use industries like dairy and sheep farming, wildlife zoos, hunting, and circuses as well as natural resource areas like fishing, forestry and energy production. They found that the public is at risk of withholding its social license to operate from an industry if they lose trust in its stakeholders and do not believe those stakeholders will do an adequate job of protecting animal and human welfare.
In the case of animal use industries like equestrian sport, the study's authors pointed to changing public views on what constitutes animal welfare, together with the development of technology that makes it easy for someone to record video or photos and distribute them en masse. An increase in the academic study of animal learning and welfare has also influenced the way people look at animals.
The study authors say these evolutions aren't just impacting a non-horsey public—they're also seeing shifts within equine sport as well.
“These evolving attitudes are reflected in changes to the rules of competition and, in some cases, the introduction of overarching equine welfare strategies and recommendations,” the authors wrote. “Initiatives that aim to promote best practice have also been implemented in a number of disciplines, including awards for best body condition, best condition in endurance competition and best shoeing. Other recently introduced measures that aim to promote the positive protection of equine safety and welfare include improved provision for the rehoming and retraining of retired racehorses, pre-race 'suitability to race' examinations, the use of deformable and frangible devices in cross country fences, alterations to the design and placement of hurdles and steeplechase fences, advances in the safety training of officials, evolution of rules relating to types and fitting of tack, and horse falls, generation of falls and safety databases, and improved post-exercise cooling protocols.”
Still other protocols have sought to address psychological welfare of horses, like the clipping of nose hairs, abusive training method, and whip use.
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The authors suggest that proactive, simultaneous strategies are needed to maintain the public's trust in an industry.
“In this context, proactivity involves taking ownership of issues and embracing reform,” the review noted. “When combined with the transparency of operations, this approach has been successful in both protecting and repairing an industry's SLO. This contrasts with a reactive approach to social license problems which essentially involves denying that there is an issue and relying on positive public messaging for reputational repair.”
The public, the authors claim, is more discerning than many may give them credit for and can distinguish between meaningful reforms based on science and “unsubstantiated positive messaging.”
Establishing public trust means that the public must both trust that stakeholders are willing and also capable of remaining proactive to anticipate and reduce risks to animals and people. That sometimes means talking to the public – even though they're outside the self-limited world of equestrianism.
“The optimal stakeholder engagement is honest, transparent, and collaborative consultation and communication,” the report read. “If communication is to be truly collaborative, the sport must gain an understanding of the beliefs and desires of all stakeholders – including the sport's critics – and engage with them in a constructive dialogue. Undoubtedly, corresponding with the wider public and those who criticize equestrianism may be uncomfortable, but proactive engagement with stakeholders and the establishment of a shared vision for the future of the sport are key drivers of social license.”
You can find the complete article here.
The post Social License To Operate: UK Group Explains Why Public Acceptance Is Crucial For Equine Sports – And How To Keep It appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
