Pasture for horses: an underestimated land use class in an urbanized and multifunctional area

Abstract

This paper investigates the spatial importance of horses in a multifunctional and urbanized area. The growing spatial importance of horses in the open space was already mentioned by different authors, but never quantified before. In many countries, including Belgium, statistics on horses are only partly covered by agricultural data. As a consequence, the amount of space in use for horses, especially hobby horses, is largely unknown but may encompass a significant area of the open space. Especially within the context of an increasing urbanization and growing demands on the remaining rural area, this evolution must not be neglected. A reliable quantification of the space used by horses is therefore essential and is given in this research for the case study Flanders. According to the results of fieldwork, about one third of the pasture land in Flanders is used to keep horses. A qualitative analysis showed a higher horse density within the more urbanized areas with a fragmented agricultural area and a quantitative analysis showed negative associations between the presence of horses and (i) the distance to gardens, (ii) the parcel area and (iii) the distance to forest. Moreover an internet survey assessed evolutions and motivations of horse owners to keep horses. The survey resulted in clear data on the fact that the number of horses is increasing. This is mainly motivated by recreational purposes. The majority of horsekeepers do not consider themselves to be part of the agricultural sector. These results, showing an intensified competition for land between stakeholders in the open space of urbanized regions put new challenges for sustainable land use planning. The major challenges are i) to avoid increasing functional and spatial fragmentation of rural landscapes, ii) to assure enough space for societal necessity urgencies such as food or energy self efficiency, iii) to increase positive interactions of horse keeping with other sectors such as agriculture, nature conservation and others and iv) to develop a proper visual and cultural landscape strategy, helping in setting up guidelines for fencing and other infrastructural elements that do not deteriorate the landscape character.