IT IS a venture formed to ensure that Yorkshire’s rural economy stands squarely on all four legs.

It is Ride Yorkshire, an initiative which aims to help equestrian businesses cash in on the tourist pound.

Behind it are four riding enthusiasts. They are farmer and businesswoman Catherine Fairburn; retired York solicitor John Yeomans, who is chairman of Visit York; and director Janet Cochrane and Kate Dashper, who are both researchers in tourism and events at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Now the business, based at Harriet Air Farm in Rievaulx, is gunning for the New Business Of The Year and Best Business and Higher Education Link titles.

Ride Yorkshire identifies horse and rider accommodation, mostly bed and breakfasts with some self-catering then checks the safe grazing or loose-box facilities.

It designs and checks riding routes, identifying obstructions, poor signage and hazardous road crossings, then packages the routes of three to five days both in North Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Wolds, with numerous shorter day rides.

It also sends “mystery riders” to check out equestrian centres and identifies groups of disadvantaged people who would benefit from equine activities.

And it has a website which pulls together the research, listings accommodation providers, equestrian centres and horse holidays in Yorkshire.

It was higher education that helped the organisation with funding. Last year Janet was awarded almost £3,000 through charity UnLtd, which targets people in higher education institutions who want to set up a social enterprise.

And Kate received £3,000 and seed funding from Leeds Metropolitan University, with money used for research into the need for riding holidays in the UK.

The resulting survey, publicised through the British Horse Society, local hunts, online forums and Facebook, attracted 365 responses.

It found that there were two main domestic markets for UK riding holidays – those travelling with their own steed (85 per cent of horse owners were keen on the idea) and those seeking to hire horses at the destination (75 per cent).

Significantly, 96 per cent relied on the internet to plan their equestrian holidays – making a good case for joining the Ride Yorkshire website.

Now an outline programme has been agreed and funding secured for Ride Yorkshire and Leeds Met to provide a rolling programme of 12-week courses of equine activities for groups of young unemployed people.

And Janet has been approached to advise Askham Bryan College on the content of its new module in Equine Tourism.