Sarah Stoute is a British entrepreneur, philanthropist and lifelong equestrian whose work has been defined by a commitment to community, welfare and meaningful social change. She is the founder of EQUISS, an independent organisation established to tackle abuse and misconduct within the equestrian world while championing the welfare of both people and horses.

For decades, horses have been at the heart of Sarah’s life. As a competitor, event organiser, business owner and mother of two daughters who grew up in the sport, she has experienced the equestrian industry from every perspective. That lifelong involvement has given her an enduring love of the sport, alongside the conviction to challenge it when she recognised that too many people were being failed by the very systems designed to protect them.

Sarah has built her career on identifying unmet needs and creating lasting solutions. Whether through business, education, philanthropy or community initiatives, she has consistently combined entrepreneurial vision with a strong sense of social responsibility, believing that organisations should leave a positive legacy far beyond their commercial success.

She is the owner of Keysoe International, one of the United Kingdom’s leading equestrian centres. Under Sarah’s leadership, Keysoe has evolved into far more than a competition venue. It is home to the Keysoe Academy, nurturing future equestrian talent, and the Keysoe Therapy and Wellbeing Centre, which provides animal-assisted therapy and wellbeing programmes that support individuals and families within the local community.

Throughout her career, Sarah has demonstrated an instinct for recognising where support is missing and taking decisive action to fill that gap. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she channelled that commitment into supporting communities across the world, donating millions of pounds of free PPE globally and
mobilising resources and developing practical initiatives in response to the unprecedented challenges facing people during the national crisis. It reflected the qualities that have become central to her leadership: compassion, determination and an ability to transform ideas into meaningful action.

Those same qualities ultimately led to the creation of EQUISS.

What began as a single Facebook post asking difficult questions about abuse within the equestrian industry quickly became something far greater. As hundreds of victim-survivors reached out, Sarah devoted the following year to listening. Day after day, she spoke with riders, owners, grooms, officials, parents and professionals whose experiences revealed deeply troubling patterns of abuse, bullying, coercive control, exploitation, sexual misconduct and systemic failures that had remained hidden behind fear, silence and the influence of powerful individuals.

The stories were remarkably consistent. Victim-survivors described not only the abuse they had endured, but also the lack of independent support, the suppression of their voices and the fear of retaliation for speaking out. It became clear that the scale of the problem was far greater than many within the industry were prepared to acknowledge.

Sarah recognised that meaningful change could not come from within the existing structures alone. The equestrian community needed an organisation that was genuinely independent—one with the commitment, resources and resolve to support victim-survivors, advocate for reform, protect horses and promote accountability without fear or favour.

Driven by that belief, Sarah personally founded and backed EQUISS from the ground up. Built through extensive consultation with victim-survivors, safeguarding specialists, legal professionals and industry experts, EQUISS represents a landmark commitment to creating a safer, more accountable future for equestrian sport. Independent, autonomous and uncompromising in its purpose, the organisation exists to challenge cultures that enable abuse, support those who have been harmed and encourage meaningful, lasting change across every level of the industry.

Sarah firmly believes that loving a sport means having the courage to improve it. Her vision is not to divide the equestrian community but to strengthen it by fostering a culture built on integrity, transparency, respect and safety, where every rider, owner, groom, volunteer, official and child can participate with confidence, and where horse welfare is never separated from human welfare.

Through EQUISS, Sarah is leading a movement that seeks not only to respond to abuse, but to prevent it. Her ambition is to ensure that every voice can be heard without fear, every concern can be taken seriously and every member of the equestrian community can contribute to a safer future.

Her mission is clear: to help build an equestrian world where people and horses are equally protected, equally respected and able to thrive together.

In addition to her work, horses and dogs Sarah has a passion for travel, cycling and climbing and has summated Mount Kilimanjaro twice for charitable purposes.