You’re talking top end of the market there, and also how many of these kids have a parent or other relative who rides? I’d guess just about all of them.
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individualism is frowned upon in today’s society unless it is cloaked behind a hand held device
my grand daughters have very little interest in horse activities, they like the horses as an animal but show no interest in learning the complicated nature of a horse related activity
today is just a different world than back in last century when it was much easier to keep a pet animal. Feeding was less complicated, little need then for specialized additives to top dress crimped oats. I think we have something “special” for specific needs (real or imagined) for each of our horses. For some there are more “supplements” than grain (well he grain is a specific pelletized feed that is a blend of various scientifically manufactured feeds)
So it is much easier for a kid to go kick at a ball and then accomplish a complicated sport
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I agree with all of the above, and I’m going to add something else. If you are a horseperson, are you even having kids? I’m an anomaly, with 2, in my horse circle. Of all my horsey friends I can think of, only a couple have kids. And those friends, while sure they’d like their kids to have an interest, are not the ‘so involved with horses’ kind that the kids naturally gravitate that way.
I see it here on COTH also, so many people don’t want to have kids, or add kids to their horse life.
So I ask, if horse people are not having kids, how do we expect to have a ‘next generation’ to continue on?
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Because the horse mad kid doesn’t always have horse people parents…”normal” folk, like my parents have little aliens who are obsessed from the get go!
So many reasons it seems for declining numbers, and most of them hard to overcome.
The saddest reason I heard locally is that “new kids” aren’t always welcome, the reception from the established little clique is not great. People are feeling a lack of support and welcome at shows.
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I had a horse and no kid
Then a kid and no horse.
Having both is definitely $$$$
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Local hunter shows in Virginia have huge entries in the kids divisions. I’ve seen 15 in leadline and 30 in short stirrup, and then the numbers go down progressively. Often there are only three adults showing over fences. But the kiddos jumping 2’ and under are packing the classes.
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Local and county shows in the Los Angeles area are doing very well and I see tons of kids at the shows - the crossrail divisions can take up most of the day!
I think we’re in a sweet spot where there’s lots of high earners in the area who can afford the sport, and riding is pretty geographically accessible - there’s just a ton of barns. Within 20 miles or so of my apartment we have four or five sizeable equestrian centers plus lots of other smaller facilities.
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Our local 4H horse kids are still fairly well represented; my SIL has kids that are still very active in horses but don’t compete, generally, they just have horses and ride them. That’s my experience with horses; I raised two pretty horsey kids but as young adults they sure can’t have a horse (so we have them lol). We trail ride, we do pack trips, we feed them and admire how pretty they are or funny but we’re not in any spotlight. Montana has a boatload of horse activities so kids are around for sure; it’s a different horse environment.
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Lots of good points were already hit here - mainly fewer barns in suburbs or exurbs, small riding clubs dying, fewer riding opportunities at camps etc due to cost and insurance issues, and COST.
I don’t think a lack of horses on TV is an issue at all. Those of us born with the bug were obsessed from the jump - not a single soul in my entire extended family rode and I popped out of the womb wanting a pony. I think there are animal and horse loving kids born into every generation, look at how my little ponies and breyers are still popular - but accessibility to horses is getting harder.
Even anecdotally, 1/2 the places I rode at as a pre-teen/teen have sold and now have malls and houses on them. Non-horsey parents are not always keen on driving their kid 45 minutes out of town “to the boonies” to the barn. Whereas child sports (at least entry level) are in your own nearby community or school - its basically low-cost childcare if you can get your kid into an afterschool athletic program.
True, there are traveling teams and year-round sports that require more $$ for multiple uniforms and out of state travel, but the entry level for sport is CHEAP compared to horses. But those teams are usually for kids who have already demonstrated commitment and talent and want to put more effort in.
Simply put, IME, the entry level to get involved in sport or dance or whatever is so easy for parents. They are encouraged to sit on bleachers and bond with parents and watch. The rules and basics are easy to understand so they can help their kid practice at home, equipment is easy to replace if it breaks. These sports are frequently preformed in climate controlled venues - not dusty arenas.
Equestrian sports are hard to break into. Its an entirely different lifestyle. Its not like switching between pop warner football and little league baseball. It is a lot for a parent to learn and get accustomed to. Even if you have the money, lots of barns around here have wait lists, so they end up going to a crappy back-yard ‘trainer’ and having a bad experience and writing off horses altogether.
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Re: I tried to test out the “lack of horses on TV” idea and came up with a rather lengthy list of horse TV shows and movies from the past 15-20 years through today that would be readily accessible to current kids.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a lack of horses on TV.
But how kids consume TV and media is totally different than when we grew up. Kids rarely watch broadcast TV or cable. It’s all streaming these days. And many are more apt to watch YouTube or TikTok accounts than an actual “show.” So they probably are less likely to watch horse media unless they deliberately seek it out.
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Ah, but that is the brilliance of streaming. There is so much more content out there, and it is at your fingertips and ready to watch instantly. You don’t have to wait until Thursday at 5pm to watch Bonanza or Saturday at 9am to watch My Little Pony. YouTube, Tik Tok etc have oodles of horse content, and it varies from highly produced and educational to silly and cute. Kids now have access to watching clips of good international riders and shows that I certainly didn’t have growing up in the in 80s, so I count that as a pro and not a con. Not to mention new scripted horse-related content is also still being made.
So yea, its delivered differently, but there is still tons of horse content our there both, and kids certainly know how to find it.
@BatCoach You’re not wrong. Streaming can introduce people to far more new things.
I have had quite a few high school students ask me about horse things because they follow certain accounts. I had one student say he loves watching TikToks of farriers working. 
He and I had multiple conversations about how it all works.
But you just don’t get the numbers of viewers period. Popular broadcast TV shows would reach 20-30 million households in the original broadcast, most with multiple people watching at once. Sure, popular videos get that many streams or likes, but I don’t think the actual shows are getting anywhere near those numbers of unique viewers these days. They can count things by views now so numbers look crazy high but don’t add up to the same quantity of people watching.
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True, plus many streaming services never release their viewership/steams data, so we may never know. There are just SO many options - its an absolute deluge of viewable content on multiple platforms.
I hope that the depth of horse content helps offset the sheer amount of ‘other’ content out there, but its really anyone’s guess at this point.
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And the dang fuel cost have skyrocketed once again. 2 weeks ago diesel was $3.25 a gallon. Today it’s $4.09. 
Seeing the same 75 cents a gallon increase for gas.
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I wasn’t in a rush to have a kid, but sharing horses with her has been one of the greatest pleasures in my life. She didn’t choose to go with the riding end of things full time, but owns part of four standardbred race horses with my DH, and has her trainers license. She does want to get a riding horse again, some of her father rubbed off on her and she wants one to cattle type classes with.
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