During the last twenty years, a remarkable new type of service has been developed in the world of sports, which can be described as the indoorisation of outdoor sports. Typical outdoor sports like climbing, skiing, surfing, rowing, and skydiving, which used to be exclusively practiced in a natural environment of mountains, oceans, rivers and the air, are now being offered for consumption in safe, predictable and controlled indoor centers. The present article emphasizes the rise of indoor lifestyle sports, such as rafting, snowboarding, skydiving and surfing. It discusses the conditions under and ways in which commercial entrepreneurs in the Netherlands have created this market, the meanings that they have ascribed to their centers and the dilemmas with which they have been confronted. It is argued that the rise of this economic market cannot be understood if it is solely interpreted as the result of economic, technological or natural developments. These economic activities were also embedded in and influenced by shared understandings and their representations in structured fields of outdoor sports, mainstream sports and leisure experience activities. A better understanding of the indoorisation of outdoor lifestyle sports can be achieved by recognizing how these structures and cultures pervaded the rise of this new market.
Grooms play a vital role in the equestrian sector, providing horses with expert care. Yet the grooming industry is finding itself amid continued outflow of experienced staff due to poor working conditions, insufficient remuneration, and lack of respect towards the profession. In 2022, four high-profile initiatives, the formation of the International Grooming Association (IGA), the 2022 FEI ECCO World Championships, the #ChampionsAsOne initiative, and the Cavalor Best Groom Award aimed to galvanize the grooming industry. Drawing on the COM-B model and Behaviour Change Wheel as a theoretical framework and using a four-part online questionnaire, the current study aimed to determine whether these initiatives were perceived by grooms (N = 1389) as addressing prevalent barriers that currently prevent them from staying in the industry. Statistical analysis using chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that the initiatives were not perceived as effective. 58.5% of the grooms indicated that the initiatives had no impact on them personally, arguably because the initiatives failed to address those issues perceived as most pressing, namely a high mental and physical workload (physical opportunity) and insufficient remuneration and time off (physical capability). Grooms considered employers, followed by the FEI and the IGA as the most important stakeholders to work towards sustainable change in the grooming industry.
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At a time of mounting ecological crises and biodiversity loss, there is an urgent need for nature-based solutions. Equestrian properties cover a considerable proportion of the European rural and peri-urban landscape and provide much potential for integrating ecosystem services, such as the inclusion of small landscape features. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and quality of landscape features (LF) to help determine how the equine sector can contribute to the agro-ecological transition. Using a citizen science approach, 87 commercial and 420 private yard owners reported the type, frequency and geometric dimension of LFs and additional biodiversity enhancing features. A hierarchical multivariate regression was used to determine how equine property characteristics explain variation in the Percentage Property Coverage (PPC) of LFs. The model explained 47% of the variation of PPC. The variables that explained significant variation in PPC included Yard size, Number of LFs, Tree rows, Fruit orchard, Wild hedges, Flowering strips, Buffer strips, Embankments and Cluttered corners. Commercial yards are significantly larger with significantly more horses and on average only 9% (±13.87%) of the property was covered by LFs whilst private yards had significantly more coverage of LFs with on average 12% (±14.77%). These findings highlight the substantial yet untapped potential of equine yards in fostering biodiversity, suggesting that the equine sector could play an important role in the agro-ecological transition. To encourage more biodiverse-inclusive yard designs, tailored strategies should consider the diverse factors influencing equine yard design, including existing knowledge, client demands, financial considerations, and equine health and welfare.
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