animals Review Green Assets of Equines in the European Context of the Ecological Transition of Agriculture Agata Rzek˛e´c 1 ,Céline Vial 1,2,* and Geneviève Bigot 3 1 Research Unit MOISA (Marchés, Organisations, Instituts et Stratégies d’acteurs)-French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), CIHEAM-IAMM, CIRAD, Montpellier Supagro, Univ Montpellier, 34060 Montpellier, France;
[email protected] 2 Pôle Développement, Innovation, Recherche-French Institute for Horse and Horse Riding (Ifce), 61310 Exmes, France 3 Université Clermont Auvergne, AgroParisTech, French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), VetAgro Sup, Research Unit Territoires, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 30 October 2019; Accepted: 2 January 2020; Published: 8 January 2020 Simple Summary: Equines have a peculiar place in our society. From livestock to sport, through to landscape managers and leisure partners, equines show a wide range of little-known environmental advantages and assets. Today’s wake-up calls about the environment are progressively putting pressure on stakeholders of the agricultural sector, including the equine industry. This study focusses on the main environmental consequences of equine use and possession in Europe based on scientific and technical sources under the lens of five leading sectors where equines show unique impacts as green assets. Now, more than ever before, it is important to highlight the role of equines as a green alternative in political debates and management practices to give them the place equines deserve in the ecological transition of agriculture. Abstract: Despite the decline of equine populations in the middle of the 20th century, the European horse industry is growing again thanks to economic alternatives found in the diversification of the uses of equines (sports, racing, leisure, etc.).