Scots riding schools forced to sell horses and rely on donations due to closure anomaly

Business owners say that because they are legally permitted to offer individual and small group lessons, the majority have been turned down for any financial support while still incurring significant running costs.  Meanwhile businesses in England have been entitled to grants of up to £15,000.

One business in the highlands was forced to sell almost all her horses while others have set up crowd-funding pages.

READ MORE: Kate Forbes extends Covid business rates relief after backlash 

Lesley McCourt, who owns four horses, has been campaigning on behalf of the equestrian community in Scotland, which contributes £335million annually to the Scottish economy.

She said permitting schools to stay open in Scotland has led to a massive funding disparity across the UK.

She said: "In England, riding schools have been locked down from the outset and they have payments of around £15,000 to stay closed.

"In Scotland, Horse Scotland lobbied quite vigorously for horse sport to continue and that's a good thing but it's one of those things where smaller riding schools have suffered from the un-intended consequence that they are allowed to stay open but are so severely restricted that they have virtually no income.

"The stories we have heard are heartbreaking. These are people who haven't taken a wage for a year and they are having to rely on charity to survive.

"I have a lady from Loch Ness Trekking Centre who had 14 horses, she now has three because she couldn't afford to keep them.

READ MORE: Scots housebuilder declares it is time to end government support 

"Around 68% of riding schools have indoor facilities and because of the social distancing requirements you need to have sufficient space to allow say parents to socially distance and watch and not all schools can do that.

"In the research that we have done 73% of respondents report being reliant on savings, charity or their pension to survive at the moment.

"Some schools will be able to take more pupils than others because of their layout, schools who have outdoor facilities have a better chance of being able to teach but again 28% of schools only have indoor facilities."

Ms McCourt said most schools have been forced to lose or furlough staff and have less time for lessons because they are doing jobs that would normally be done by other workers such as the care and exercise of horses.

She questioned by owners had been rejected for the business restrictions fund and said owners had had varying degrees of success applying for a discretionary fund administered by local authorities.

She said: "If your business account demonstrates that your still have an income flow then you will be rejected. The problem is that riding school patrons are extremely loyal and a lot of people have been forward paying lessons so it looks like their is still income coming in to the business so you get rejected.

"When they are allowed to re-open their operational costs will soar because they will have to re-employ casual labour but they will have no income because they will be required to deliver the services that have been pre-paid."

She is critical that the Scottish Outdoor Marine and Tourism Fund, which allocated some money for treking centres, was only open for nine days.

"If 75% of your income was not derived from trekking you didn't qualify."

READ MORE: SNP under fire for 'savage' cuts to farming climate funding 

Alison Clinton, who runs the Pheonix Riding School in West Calder said she had received funding to cover one month's running costs through the pandemic.

She was able to continue operating for five months last year but has opted to remain closed in the current lockdown. It costs up to £1500 a week to run her school.

She said: "My personal opinion is that schools have been permitted to stay open so that they don't have to give out funding," she said.

"We weren't allowed to open in the first lockdown.

"This time, legally if I wanted to do private lessons and groups of children under 12 I could have.

"However, I felt that that was extremely wrong given the number of (Covid) cases.

"A group of children under 12 are just as likely to pass on that virus as anyone else. With private lessons for kids, you have to be close to them and that wasn't do-able.

"It's a bit of a grey area and that's part of the problem. Even if I was to stay open and do the groups, I wouldn't be covering my costs because horses are super-expensive, particularly in the winter.

"Even in the months I was open, I was so restricted, I wasn't covering costs.

"I was turned down for the small business bonus scheme because I rent the premises. I was turned down for the business restrictions fund because they said riding lessons are not classes as a group activity which is absolutely appalling because that's where I make my income.

"I wasn't entitled to the business closure fund as we are no legally obliged to close even though it's not really the right thing to do.

"I haven't had to sell horses, luckily. I set up a GoFundMe page and my customers - they have been absolutely incredible.

"They have paid for lessons even though they aren't getting them. If it wasn't for them I would have had to sell horses."

The Scottish Government has said businesses will continue to be supported as the country transitions out of lockdown.

A spokeswoman said:  “We recognise how challenging the restrictions are for many businesses including riding schools.

"Since the start of the pandemic we have allocated more than £3 billion to support businesses across Scotland.

"The Strategic Framework Business Fund provides grants every four weeks for businesses required by law to close or to significantly modify their operations.

"In addition, the £120 million local authority discretionary fund is empowering local authorities to direct funding to specific groups or sectors within their areas.

"The use of this funding is entirely at the discretion of local authorities based on the specific needs of their local economies.”