Riding Establishments Act 1964
Any premises that provide horses for hire or riding instruction for money must hold a riding establishment licence. Livery stables that house and care for other people’s horses do not need a licence.
Anyone who operates a riding establishment must be suitably qualified or experienced. Conditions are attached to the licence to ensure the welfare and safety of the horses, riders and the public.
Application form
Online application and payment available:
Downloadable application form:
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Licence conditions:
Additional information
Animal Welfare Act 2006
As you may be aware, the law that protects animals is changing. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 came into effect on 6 April 2007. This Act brings together and modernises animal welfare legislation, some of which dates from 1911. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 will:
- Introduce a 'duty of care' on people to ensure the needs of any animal for which they are responsible
- Create a new offence of failing to provide for the needs of an animal in your care
- Place more emphasis on owners and keepers who will need to understand their responsibilities and take all reasonable steps to provide for the needs of their animals.
Further details of how the Act may affect you can be found on the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals( RSPCA) websites.
Please note: The above documents are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and therefore require a suitable reader to view them. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).