Democratising the regulation of horses used in the sport of jumps racing

This thesis applies a regulatory theory lens to steeplechasing and hurdle racing and concludes that the current regulation of jumps horses lacks sufficient democratic accountability. This is based on the finding that the industry self-regulation is neither permeable nor responsive to the public’s changing values regarding the use of horses in jumps racing. The animal protection legislation that could apply to jumps horses does not do so because of how the courts must interpret the legislation, as well as other institutional barriers. To redress this situation, a regulatory solution is proposed to make the regulation of jumps horses more democratically accountable.