Self-organized equestrian practitioners: key characteristics and needs

French horse riding is organized around professional centres such as riding schools or livery stables. As other sports, outdoor practices are booming throughout the current pandemic. Thus, the French equine industry is interested in people who organize themselves to care for their horse(s) outside of professional centres. In this context, this research aims to understand the characteristics and behaviours of self-organized equestrian users. A quantitative survey was conducted online in France. The 660 respondents are aged 15 years and over with a mean of 34 years. The main motivation leading them to self-organize is to offer better living conditions to their horse. They are quite experienced riders and generally take care of or practice with their horses alone or with their family. The average duration of self- organization is 8 years and 85% are satisfied with their current organization. Only 5% of the respondents have never used a professional equestrian centre (usually to learn riding). Using a hierarchical classification with R, we identified 6 types of self-organized users. The ‘hackers' (1 st type representing 39%) are moderately experienced riders who prefer hacking. They have spent less time in professional structures, own fewer horses, and have been self-organized for longer than the sample average. The ‘classical' profile (2 nd type) has a conventional type of practice (competitions and Olympic disciplines), a higher equestrian and academic level, and they are members of a professional structure. 16% are considered ‘multidisciplinary' (3 rd type) as they seek many different types of experiences. The ‘former professionals' (4 th type) are for half competitors, ¾ of them offer a home retirement to their horses and they often breed. The ‘non-practicing' and the ‘observers' (5 th and 6 th types) represent 7% of the sample. These results offer an opportunity for equestrian managers to target their activities to the needs of these clients, making better use of their facilities and coaching offer. The identification of like-minded equestrian centres would allow the self-organized to access support from professionals and co-create a viable business model for all stakeholders.