Pleasure riding is a form of

equestrianism Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

that encompasses many forms of recreational riding for personal enjoyment, absent elements of competition. In

horse show A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and pony, ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrianism, equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days ...

competition, a wide variety of classes are labeled pleasure classes with judging standards based on the concept that horses or ponies exhibited should be well-mannered and thus a “pleasure” to ride. Pleasure riding is called hacking in

British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...

, and in parts of the eastern United States and Canada. In the United States, particularly the

American west The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

, the term

trail riding Trail riding is riding outdoors on trails, bridle paths, and forest roads, but not on roads regularly used by motorised traffic. A trail ride can be of any length, including a long distance, multi-day trip. It originated with horse riding, and ...

is used to describe recreational pleasure riding, particularly on public lands.

Pleasure riding

Many horses are suitable for pleasure riding, including grade horses and other animals of ordinary quality and good disposition. Such horses are sometimes called " hacks," particularly in areas where pleasure riding is known as hacking. Statistics provided by the

American Horse Council The American Horse Council (AHC) is a trade organization in Washington, DC representing the horse industry. The organization formed in the late 1960s, and received IRS 501(c) non-profit recognition in 1969, with a committee that became the Coali ...

(AHC) in a 2005 study indicated that out of 9.2 million horses in the United States, the largest number, 3.9 million, were used for recreation, and this activity directly contributed $11.8 billion, or roughly one-third of the

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

effect of the horse industry. "National Economic Impact of the U.S. Horse Industry" ''American Horse Council''
Later studies reinforce these numbers. A 2008 survey found that pleasure/trail riding was the primary pursuit for 78% of Wisconsin horses and 80% of horse owners. Similarly, a 2006 study in Virginia found that 48.4% of the horses in that state were used for pleasure riding.
/ref> The prevalence of pleasure riding and its economic impact also dispels the misperception that horse ownership is only for the wealthy. The 2005 AHC study also found that approximately 34% of horse owners have an annual household income of less than $50,000, 46% have an income of between $25,000 to $75,000, and 28% have an income of over $100,000. Horse showing ranks second in the AHC study of horse activities, with 2.7 million horses involved. Even in competition, the term "pleasure" or "hack" is also applied to a number of

classes where the performance of the animals are judged on their manners, performance and way of going, originally to determine a horse's suitability to be a pleasure riding mount.

References

Equestrianism {{equestrian-stub

Pleasure riding

See also

References