Horses and Sport – a Very Brief History

The horse has been a faithful servant to mankind throughout history – in agriculture and forestry, and in battle. Horse races with either drivers or jockeys developed as an entertainment, and as a diversion from the rigours of working life. Having a bet on who would win added extra excitement to the spectacle.

The 1960s saw Sweden "de-horsed"; machines and cars took over, and there was no place left in society for the working horse. However, a new role for horses developed: horse-riding as a sport took off, more and more riding schools were opened, and betting on horse races was given a centralised structure with the formation of ATG in 1974. Since then things have moved on at lightning speed; back in the 1960s, when the decline of the horse reached its lowest point, there were only 60,000 horses left in Sweden. Today there are over 225,000, and the horse has an important part to play in modern society, both as a recreational interest and in terms of employment and agriculture: one in three Swedes is in contact with horses in one way or another, and the horse industry is the fourth largest sector of the nation's agricultural industry.

Betting on horse racing has grown steadily over the 32 years since ATG was established, and in 2006 the total amount of money placed as bets on horse racing in Sweden was over SEK 11,000 million (€1,170 million). Today, the world of trotting and thoroughbred racing is in vigorously good health, thanks to the surplus generated by betting, which is channelled back into the sport. And money from ATG's betting business is also distributed to benefit other forms of equine sport as well.

Go to navigation