YET another country pursuit is under attack from politically correct Government legislation according to land owners: the burgeoning hobby of horse riding.

A decision taken in the House of Lords that all riding schools must carry insurance to cover minor accidents to children - risks that have been associated with learning to ride for centuries - is threatening to put stables out of business, says the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).

Another country pursuit under attack?

The new rules have infuriated many country folk because it adds to the long list of health and safety measures which, they say, are stopping young people enjoying outdoor pursuits. Teachers no longer dare take children on country trips, for instance, and new laws governing the licensing of shotguns make it harder to learn to shoot.

The only riding experience youngsters of the future might enjoy is on the back of a rocking horse - unless a campaign to change a law which threatens to put riding establishments out of business succeeds, says the association.

"Unless the law is changed, there will be fewer opportunities for the young riders of the future to gain experience," said CLA Yorkshire director Dorothy Fairburn.

"The CLA will be using next week's Badminton Horse Trials, represented by our national vice president William Worsley of Hovingham, to step up its campaign to persuade the government to alter laws which have sucked the equine industry into an insurance spiral.

"Riding establishments have found insurance costs rocketing since a House of Lords interpretation of the 1971 Animals Act extended absolute liability to the owners of any perfectly normal animal that causes injury simply by behaving in a way that is typical of its species.

"In practice it means that even where a business has taken every possible precaution, if a horse bolts after being spooked the owner can face unlimited liability for any damage or injury.

"In our increasingly litigious society this has meant that some equine establishments have found it impossible to obtain insurance at all - effectively putting them out of business overnight."

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