Quetier, Fabien F., and Gordon, Iain J. (2003) 'Horsiculture': how important a land use change in Scotland? Scottish Geographical Journal, 119 (2). pp. 153-158.

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only

 

24

2

Abstract

[Extract] Rural areas are now widely recognised as supplying a range of goods and services to people living in urban communities, with one of the fastest developing forms of land use being recreation (Ravenscroft & Long, 1994). In the context of falling agricultural commodity prices, farm-based recreation is a potentially important form of diversification (Ilbery, 1989; Bailey et al., 2000). Recreation also changes the nature of land management, which may have important implications for the rural landscape and environmental features of the rural ecosystems (Gordon. et al., 1989). The growing importance of equestrianism as a UK leisure activity has, in turn, promoted the development of 'horsiculture', with many horses being grazed outdoors for part of the year on land formerly used for livestock grazing (Mellor et al., 1999,2001).

The aim of this work is to draw attention to the importance of equestrianism as a determined land-use change within rural areas and how this form of land use is likely to be underestimated in the agriculturally-based information gathering exercises currently conducted by the Scottish Executive.

Actions (Repository Staff Only)

Item Control Page