2023-06-24 15:31:00
The ponies from the Pray stables, in Charge, near Amboise (Indre-et-Loire), have been taken out of their boxes. Félicie-Rose Hilairet, soon to be 15, meticulously brushes Riska, a recently broken-in young pony. Mathilde, her instructor, has planned to take her group of six good level riders for a walk in the forest.
Registered since she was in CP in this family equestrian center, which has 150 licensees, the teenager never wanted to change her hobby. “I also did some drawing. But I stopped to focus on horseback riding. Every return to school, all I think about is getting back on the pony,” says Félicie-Rose, dressed in black riding pants and boots, all unearthed on the second-hand clothing site Vinted.
The financial component handicaps some families
The weekly session often extends beyond class time. “It’s a ‘passion’ activity, which takes time and requires investment”, she assures. At his side, Karine Dastain, his mother, agrees, convinced of the benefits of this activity. “balancing”.
Several times a year, his parents pay €160 for a flat rate of ten sessions. This cost, higher than other sporting disciplines, did not slow them down. “It remains a selective hobby, admits Karine. But, we are lucky, thanks to his father, who works intermittently in entertainment, to have access to the National Fund for Social Business Activities, which pays for 30% of the activity. »
This summer, Félicie-Rose will not, however, participate, as she used to, in the hiking-camping offered by her club. “We registered her for four years, but not this year, mainly because of the price,” pursues his mother. The French Equestrian Federation (FFE) is also worried about the effects of inflation, noting a drop in new registrations.
Third most practiced discipline in France
Coming from the middle class, the Félicie-Rose instructor is aware that the financial aspect handicaps certain families. “I’ve seen girls quit because parents couldn’t keep up, she acknowledges. Here, we don’t necessarily have a wealthy clientele. Thanks to this card of ten sessions, everyone can adapt their practice to their budget. This is very interesting for single-parent families or licensees who have separated parents. They are not required to come every week. »
This image of “sport for the rich” displeases the officials of the FFE, chaired since 2006 by Serge Lecomte. Based in Sologne, in a 400-hectare estate in the heart of the Lamotte-Beuvron national forest (Loir-et-Cher), the body has been working for thirty years to democratize the practice. “To say it’s not a popular sport is not the reality. With nearly 700,000 licensees, we are the third federation in France (after football and tennis, editor’s note) », insists Frédéric Bouix, general delegate of the FFE.
Train the 10,000 equestrian centers in the open policy
The structure of pony clubs, equestrian centers, predominantly private, differs from the model of other disciplines, associative, and benefiting from public subsidies. “The price of one hour of riding includes the use and maintenance of the horse, the teacher’s salary, the financing of the infrastructure. When we play tennis or football, nobody asks the question of who paid for the stadium, the water to water the field, the lighting, and the sports educators are often volunteers.compare-t-il.
The FFE is committed to bringing behind it the 10,000 equestrian centers in France in its policy of openness. The “Pony School” operation, which has been offering free sessions for eight years, has thus benefited around 300,000 primary school pupils. School cycles, spread over six weeks, have also been set up in collaboration with the national education system. “There are pony clubs that receive schoolchildren every day of the week”, welcomes Frédéric Bouix.
Operations in popular neighborhoods
To break with this elitist image, actions are regularly carried out in working-class neighborhoods. Many departmental riding committees (Yvelines, Var, Auvergne, Doubs) open the practice of horse riding to disadvantaged young people or from priority neighborhoods.
In the Alpes-Maritimes, Estelle Laurenti, project manager at the departmental committee, responded in 2020 to a request from the Departmental Directorate for Social Cohesion (DDCS) to set up discovery operations, combining sports practice with awareness-raising. in the horse trades. Nearly 3,500 children aged 6 to 17, identified by neighborhood associations, were immersed in four equestrian centers during school holidays.
“The point is to show that horse riding is an accessible sport. We can also communicate on the multidisciplinarity of this sport. We decompartmentalize and make people dream. I would like to have higher funding to sustain this action throughout the year,” Estelle Laurenti advances.
Direct the means “towards the bottom and the top of the pyramid”
At the other end of the spectrum, riders who are part of a competitive approach sometimes feel forgotten by this national policy. At almost 12 years old, Céleste (1) will participate in her first French pony championships, which will take place from July 8 to 15 in Lamotte-Beuvron. Her parents pay dearly (nearly €300 per month) for half board for the pony she rides in training and competitions. But his club – a renowned equestrian center in Indre-et-Loire – is forced to put an end to this duo from the start of the next school year. Negotiating with officials to get another pony, she feels a bit helpless.
«It’s a machine for crushing children’s dreams. Change clubs? It’s not necessarily easier elsewhere. For lack of a solution, we think about buying a pony, which our daughter has never asked for. There are other riders in the same situation, whose parents are wondering if they should stop”, says Céline, who estimates the annual cost of horseback riding for her daughter at more than €5,000. “It’s a budget that weighs on our finances, preventing us, for example, from going on vacation where we would like”testifies this mother of two other boys, without knowing if the acquisition of a pony will be financially possible.
Assuming to direct the means of the FFE “down and up (the French teams) of the pyramid”, Frédéric Bouix concedes that he has no answer “satisfactory” to bring in this case. “There are only 160,000 licensees who compete, of which only 35,000 own their horse. Indeed, for them, the cost is higher”, he admits. With a budget of 40 million euros, the FFE limits its support system for the elite to a small core of riders, on the doorstep of the French team, who benefit from the support of coaches and travel expenses.
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How much does it cost ?
On average, the licensees of equestrian centers pay around fifty euros per month. The price of the license – €25 for children and €36 for adults – has not changed since the 1990s.
Part of the equipment (helmet, carpet, saddle) is made available to new registrants. Most licensees equip themselves with mass-market sports brands or on the Internet. Riders with more intensive practice sometimes buy their own saddle. There are a dozen saddlers in France whose models cost from 800 to 5,000 €.
Nearly 35,000 licensees own their horses. For the purchase of a competition pony, it is necessary to count between 15,000 and 18,000 €. Horses participating in the Olympic Games trade between 3 and 10 million euros.
In total, horse riding (excluding the textile industry, horse trade, etc.) represents a turnover of 1 billion euros.
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