The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in Equestrianism — and Why Nobody Talks About It
Behind the rosettes, the early mornings, and the deep bond between horse and rider lies a mental health crisis that the equestrian industry has been slow to address. Here is what the data says — and where to get help.
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Behind the Rosettes: The Mental Health Crisis Nobody Talks About
There is a version of equestrian life that most people see — the gleaming horses, the early morning rides, the ribbons and rosettes, the extraordinary bond between rider and animal. It is a world that looks, from the outside, like a dream.
The reality for many of the people who work and compete in that world is considerably harder.
Research published in late 2024 by the British Grooms Association (BGA), independently analysed and shared by equestrian mental health charity Riders Minds, revealed findings that should stop the industry in its tracks. Of the grooms surveyed, 65% reported anxiety and 55% reported depression directly linked to their working conditions. Only 11% said their work had no emotional impact on them at all.
These are not small numbers. These are the people who get up before dawn, muck out, feed, exercise, and care for horses that are worth more than most people earn in a decade — often without a formal employment contract (64% lacked one), often paid below the National Minimum Wage (46%), and often without any form of pension or payslip.
"A Lifestyle Rather Than a Job"
The phrase appears in a 2019 Liverpool John Moores University report on mental health in British horseracing. It is meant to describe the culture of the industry — the idea that working with horses is a calling, not just employment. In many ways, that is true. The people who work in yards, on racing stables, in eventing and dressage barns, are there because they love it.
But "a lifestyle rather than a job" has also become a way of normalising conditions that would be unacceptable in almost any other industry. Long hours without overtime pay. No days off during competition season. Accommodation that, in some reported cases, was described as "rodent-infested." A culture in which asking for help — or even admitting you are struggling — is seen as weakness.
The BGA survey found that 43% of grooms had experienced bullying in the workplace. Nearly 41% felt they needed mental health support but did not seek it.
The Jockey's Burden
If the picture for stable staff is troubling, the data on jockeys is alarming. A survey found that 87% of jockeys experienced stress, anxiety or depression within a single year. Research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that injured jockeys are 46 times more likely to experience depression than their healthy peers.
Three out of four jockeys, studies show, never sought psychological help after injuries — even when they knew it would have helped them.
The reasons are not hard to understand. Racing culture prizes toughness. AP McCoy, one of the greatest jockeys of his generation, put it plainly: "Jockeys find it hard to talk about mental health problems because there's this stigma of being really tough and being mentally strong and not having any weaknesses."
Add to that the financial precarity — jockeys need rides to earn money, which means racing through pain and anxiety — and the isolation of a lifestyle that involves constant travel, early starts, and weight management, and you begin to understand why the mental health crisis in racing has been described as "hidden."
Grief That Goes Unacknowledged
One aspect of equestrian mental health that rarely receives attention is grief. The loss of a horse — whether through injury, illness, or the end of a competitive career — is a profound bereavement. For many riders and yard workers, a horse is not just an animal. It is a partner, a companion, and in many cases the central relationship of their working life.
Yet the equestrian world has historically been poor at acknowledging this grief. "Just get on with it" is the default response. There is no bereavement leave for losing a horse. There is no language, in most workplaces, for the kind of loss that stable staff and riders experience regularly.
Riders Minds, the UK's leading equestrian mental health charity, has worked to change this — providing resources specifically for grief and loss alongside their broader mental health support.
There Is Reason for Hope
It would be wrong to paint the equestrian world as uniformly bleak. The same Riders Minds survey that uncovered so much hardship also found that 93.3% of respondents had experienced kindness in the equestrian community. The bonds formed in yards and stables, between people who share an early morning and a love of horses, are real and sustaining.
Riders Minds itself is a testament to what the industry can do when it takes mental health seriously. Founded in 2019 by 5* event rider Matt Wright and his wife Victoria, it has grown into the UK's leading equestrian mental health resource — and in 2025 was honoured with The King's Award for Voluntary Service, one of the highest awards a voluntary organisation can receive in the UK.*
Racing Welfare provides free, confidential support for everyone in British horseracing. The British Horse Society offers welfare guidance and support for equestrian workers. And DriverWell's own Equestrian Portal brings together these resources alongside 24/7 AI-powered wellbeing support, mood tracking, and a confidential peer community — all free, all anonymous.
If You Are Struggling
You do not have to be in crisis to reach out. If the early mornings are getting heavier, if the pressure is building, if you are carrying something you cannot name — that is enough of a reason to talk.
Riders Minds — Free helpline: 0800 088 2073 | Text: 07480 488 103 | ridersminds.org
Racing Welfare — 01638 560 763 | racingwelfare.co.uk
Samaritans — 116 123 (free, 24/7)
Or visit the DriverWell Equestrian Portal [blocked] for a full range of free, confidential support built specifically for the equestrian and racing community.
Sources: British Grooms Association Good Employment Survey (2024), analysed by Simone Sear; Liverpool John Moores University / Racing Welfare (2019); British Journal of Sports Medicine; Riders Minds survey data (2025). All statistics cited are from published research.