Equine insurer Agria UK has launched a ‘Hoofprint Calculator’ — a carbon footprint calculator, which allows you to work out the environmental impact of your horse and offset it if you wish. The calculator is free to access and is believed to be the first such free service online for equestrians.
The Hoofprint Calculator asks riders a range of questions including what they feed their horse, how much they travel, how they reach their yard each day. A range of tips to help you be more sustainable are sent via email after completion, to help riders to reduce their horse’s impact through every day eco-friendly actions.
They suggest it’s also possible to offset your horse’s ‘carbon hoofprint’ by supporting verified emission reduction initiatives, which costs from £7 per tonne of carbon emissions (CO2e). A typical horse creates two tonnes of carbon a year, and more if they travel extensively to compete, for instance.
Top riders get on board
Agria has calculated the CO2e for one horse belonging to each of their sponsored riders, Ros Canter (pictured top), Joe Stockdale, Gareth Hughes and Natasha Baker, offsetting their corresponding CO2e tonnage by contributing to key climate projects.
These provide efficient cooking stoves for schools in Uganda, and supports the creation of clean, renewable energy through wind farming in India. Both reduce carbon emissions while benefitting local communities. In addition, for every tonne of carbon emission via the calculator, a tree is planted in reforestation projects.
Ros, Joe, Gareth and Natasha are all owners of Eco Offset Certificates for a leading horse on their team, showing the number of carbon credits invested in verified projects to contribute a real and active reduction in CO2e emissions.
“Agria has always believed that supporting horse owners goes far beyond helping them at a time of crisis,” said Agria UK’s CEO Vicki Wentworth. “We also help customers access the best welfare advice, share insights from experts and top names, and help them to enjoy their horses in the happiest and most sustainable way.
“Agria is already the UK’s first carbon positive pet insurer — meaning we put back into the environment more than we take out — but we realised riders had no easy way of measuring the environmental impact of their equestrian activities. This calculator changes that, and above all we hope that using it helps riders and owners look harder at sustainability and find new ways of doing things in a more environmentally friendly way.”
Visit agriacarboncalculator.co.uk to calculate your horse’s carbon hoofprint for free, or complete the questionnaire on Agria’s stand at Osberton Horse Trials (27 September – 1 October) and Your Horse Live at NAEC Stoneleigh Park (10-12 November).
