The increased costs of putting on a horse show have been a hot topic in the equestrian world as of late (which is why we hosted a panel about competition costs at the recent USEF annual meeting – read a summary of that presentation here). But costs aren’t the only thing that will dictate the future forecast for the sustainability of horse shows – or their social license to operate.  

Environmental impact has become a growing concern for all industries and sports, and the horse world cannot afford to ignore it. Major League Baseball, National Football League, and the National Hockey League have all instituted sport-wide green initiatives in recent years, aimed at reducing their events’ impact on the planet.  

“The hard truth is, we’re a little bit behind in this sport,” said Megan Fellows, founder of Carbon Hoofprint.  

Fellows was part of a three-person panel at the USEF annual meeting who gathered to describe the challenges and possible solutions they’ve seen in action in the equestrian world. 

Fellows’ company consults with competition organizers and property owners to audit existing facilities and come up with environmentally-friendly, practical solutions to common problems. One of the company's clients is the Kentucky Horse Park, which hosts 20,000 horses annually. In 2024, that translated to 174,000 stall nights (one horse in one stall for one night equals one “stall night” in this statistic).  

Large facilities like the Park face equally big expenses associated with hosting a huge volume of horses. Lee Carter, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park, said the facility generates roughly 8,176 tons of muck annually. For a while, the Park looked into burning it to create energy, but this turned out to be inefficient. These days, it’s hauled to a Kentucky mushroom farm and used as compost, but Carter is looking for ways to reduce the steps to get it there.  

What many equestrians may not realize is that the muck coming from a large facility like the Park doesn’t have a lot of places it can go. If trash is tossed in, that can create headaches for composters, and wood shavings don’t compost as easily as other bedding options. Horse waste doesn’t work the same way in digester machines as other animal waste does because of its chemical and moisture makeup, which is why there isn’t yet a scalable way to turn it into energy. In some places, it goes to the city or county dump. And even solutions like the Park’s come at a cost – Carter estimates the facility spends $500,000 on muck disposal annually.  

Water is another resource that has a big impact on facilities’ bottom line and on the planet. Carter revealed that watering the rings during a large competition can use 102,600 gallons daily, which comes from the Lexington city water supply at a high cost to the Park. Carter is looking at harvesting rainwater off arena roofs, which Fellows’ analysis shows could yield a portion of the Park’s annual water consumption.  

Consumable water is also an area of potential improvement. Scot Evans, creative director of Green Is The New Blue, described a project he launched at the Aiken Horse Park to develop a plastic-free in-gate, in which competitors got an aluminum water bottle and could access water refill stations around the horse show. Evans was also part of a project at the Upperville Colt and Horse Show to assist show management gathering and transporting dry, clean shavings bags for recycling by the county.  

“How do we get kids involved [in initiatives like this]?” Evans asked the audience, referencing the next generations’ concern for the environment. “They’re ready to march on D.C. They want change. We have to take it one step farther.”  

The panel agreed that the most important part of any sustainability initiative at a horse show or barn is buy-in. Water refill stations, for example, require coordination with facilities staff but also with catering (to understand the impact on sales) and marketing (to be sure stations are adequately labeled and advertised). 

The best place to start with improving sustainability, experts agreed, is knowing your existing statistics. Know what water, manure disposal, and energy cost you and why. Know what alternatives are available and how they can be implemented, and be ready to figure out how much money those solutions could save before diving into something. That can mean engaging experts who can give you perspective on benchmarks in these areas. And remember, even small changes (like posting signage in English and Spanish encouraging people to turn off water hoses or barn lights after use) can make a difference. 

Catch a full replay of this session here.