Whether they're running, jumping or eventing, horses represent a multi-billion dollar industry in Australia. Long gone are the days when a horse was solely a beast of burden. But have you ever stopped to wonder whether they share their rider's enjoyment of this myriad of sporting and recreational activities?

Our Chief Scientist asked that very question this week at a national conference on Ethical Equitation in Sydney.

"Horses are the basis of a multi-billion dollar industry. In Australia, their use in racing alone generates around 4 billion dollars a year and is inextricably linked with gambling and through taxation revenue to government funding. What other sport commands its own Ministerial portfolio?

But ultimately, with the possible exception of police work, the things we make horses do - racing, eventing, pony club, show jumping, trail riding, polocrosse, rodeo, endurance riding, reining and driving - are all carried out for the same reason.

Horse riding is not a productive, educational, scientific, or useful activity. It is something people do, directly or indirectly, for entertainment, pleasure, or fun.

There are some obvious benefits to horses from their domestication and use by humans: the provision of food and shelter, protection from predators, disease prevention and care during illness and injury.

But there is little evidence that horses benefit in any other significant way from our use of them, despite what we might like to think in our more romantic moments.

Doing something for pleasure or fun is not an inherently bad thing, but it doesn't provide much moral justification for an activity.

That wouldn't matter, if it wasn't for the fact that the horse has to share the experience.

So if that experience is not a good one, it raises the question of whether we should be making them do it at all.

If elite competition is to be ethically sustainable, it requires clear action to ensure that welfare impacts are minimised."

For a copy of the full presentation please contact RSPCA Australia