The equestrian world has been praised as somewhere that can offer a safe space for riders struggling with mental health.
The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (12–18 May) is community, and UK charity the Mental Health Foundation said being a part of a safe, positive community is “vital for our mental health and wellbeing”.
“We thrive when we have strong connections with other people and supportive communities that remind us we are not alone. Communities can provide a sense of belonging, safety, support in hard times and give us a sense of purpose,” said a spokesperson for the foundation.
Katie Turner, yard manager of Brookhouse Farm Riding School in the West Midlands, told H&H riding schools can provide a “safe space” for adults and children to be themselves.
“After Covid, a lot of people were struggling and we found that they would come here and talk to us because it is their happy place, there’s no stress here. They get to be with the animals they love and talk to people they get along with,” she said, adding that a group of teenagers at the yard has taken part in a new “ice bucket challenge”, the #SpeakYourMIND campaign, launched by the University of South Carolina’s Mental Illness Needs Discussion club.
“We’ve seen a change in young people over the years, too,” she said. “More are struggling with their mental health, but when they come here they can be children again. We’re an outlet from the pressures of school and social media. When they come to the riding school, they don’t need to look a certain way – they’re with their friends and their favourite ponies, and you hear them laughing and joking and enjoying each other’s company.”
British Dressage (BD) is supporting Mental Health Awareness Week and has been running Be Kind Month (16 April–18 May), to encourage members to “be there for one another, win, lose or draw”.
“Mental health is inextricably linked to kindness, so this topic has been prominent throughout the Be Kind Month campaign,” BD chief executive Jason Brautigam told H&H.
“Throughout Mental Health Awareness Week, we will be sharing information to provide advice on dealing with the stresses, pressures and anxieties of everyday life, alongside caring for and competing horses.”
BD is supporting the Mental Health Foundation’s Wear it Green Day on 15 May, an initiative to raise funds and awareness for the charity.
“Mental health is high on our agenda, not just throughout Be Kind Month, but all year round. Riders are encouraged to access the BD learning hub, where we’ve launched a mental health module, produced in collaboration with Riders Minds,” said Mr Brautigam.
“We will be adding further development and learning content over coming months, as well as continuing to spread the message about how small acts of kindness can have a massive impact on mental health.”
In a new Riders Minds survey, the charity reported that 93.3% of 210 respondents have experienced kindness in the equestrian community, and 66.5% have felt positively supported. But “more concerningly”, 80.5% have experienced poor mental health in the last three years and only 35.4% sought professional support for this.
“Seeing that people do feel positively supported, and the high levels of kindness experienced within the equestrian community, is super-encouraging given we often anecdotally hear how challenging the industry and its community can be,” said Riders Minds mental health consultant Sylvia Bruce.
“However, those results for people experiencing poor mental health are high, exceeding the commonly cited one-in-four statistic. While that’s worrying, what’s intriguing is that only a minority of those sought professional support and that warrants further exploration.”
For support: visit: britishdressage.co.uk/learning/learning-hub and ridersminds.org
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