Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

The aim with tis presentation is to discuss and report on a new project that has just started. The UN Convention on the Right of the Child became a part of Swedish law in January 2020. This means that every leader within sport should make sure that children’s rights are secured. In the stable, young people cultivate several skills; learn to cooperate, take initiatives and be responsible even though military traditions and one-way communications still pervade parts of the horse industry. Abuse and harassment of young riders in the stable are heard of but seldom spoken out loud, maybe because of fear of losing the opportunity to ride. Nevertheless, it seems to be a paradoxical situation – the stable context produces leaders and many young riders have a strong voice, but also produces youth who are silent, powerless and vulnerable. We therefore need knowledge about the conditions for young people to exercise their rights in equestrian sports. The overall aim is to analyse the conditions for a child rights perspective to be implementedin the stable. Research questions: What are the possibilities for young riders to have something to say about their participation: when and on what matters do they have a voice? What knowledge do instructors and trainers have of a child right's perspective, what characterize stable cultures where youths either can or cannot exercise the right to express their views freely and have them accounted for?

The UN Convention on the Right of the Child became part of Swedish law in 2020. Consequently, every coach in sport must make sure that children’s rights are secured. The overall aim with this PhD-project is to analyze conditions for a child rights perspective to be implemented in equestrian sport. In equestrian sport, young people cultivate several skills; they learn to cooperate, take initiatives and be responsible. Abuse and harassment are heard of but seldom spoken out loud, maybe because of fear of losing the opportunity to take part. It seems to be a paradoxical situation – the stable context produces leaders and many young horseback riders have a strong voice, but it also produces youths who are powerless and vulnerable. In this presentation, the purpose is to give voice to young horseback riders and analyze what they themselves feel that they can decide about in their sport. An online survey for riders aged 15-17 years has been carried out. The survey consisted of almost 70 questions and 569 youths responded. In this presentation we focus on some open-ended questions about young riders’ views of what they can and want to decide and have a voice about. The preliminary results show that many of the young riders do not feel that they can exercise their participation rights the way they should. The conclusion is that young horseback riders want to be more involved and they want to have a stronger voice in matters that concern them.