Nearly 70 participants across Ireland and elsewhere tuned in to the panel led by Dr. Jennifer Pugh, Senior Medical Officer of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), Lisa O'Neill, Welfare Coordinator of Equuip, and Dr. Ciara Losty, a sports psychologist for The Jockey Pathway.

“When your mental fitness is in a good place, you have clear space for thinking, you make better decisions, your mind is clear and you have a structure and a pathway to how you handle things. When you're in a negative mindset and you don't have a lot of mental fitness, everything's scrambled and you may not be able to make good decisions,” said Pugh, as she dove deeper into the definitions of mental fitness and resilience. “Whether you're big or small, there are challenges at every single level and success brings its own challenges as well. Mental health difficulties don't belong to one particular group, we are all susceptible to them.”

“The other thing that's important here is that you don't have to be in the middle of a major life event to need resilience, I think you're probably facing times every single day in your work where you need to be resilient. If something's stressful for you, it's stressful for you, you can't put it in a compartment.”

Alcohol misuse, depression, anxiety and psychological distress were all common mental disorders identified in Mental health difficulties among professional jockeys: a narrative review, a study conducted in 2021 where 105 jockeys across the UK were surveyed. The researchers identified four core categories of stressors experienced by jockeys, relating to competition (ex. pressure, injuries), the wider racing industry (ex. making weight, workload, travel demands), interpersonal challenges (ex. relationships with trainers, expectations) and career stressors (ex. career uncertainty, transitions).

“Mental health is really an area that is being discussed more, it's an area that we're talking about a little bit more in society and it's an area that is being researched more, but I would say overall, it is probably lacking behind some of the physiological sciences or some of the sciences that support the physical performance of certain things,” said Losty. “When we compare and put these statistics with other sports and other athletes in other areas, the jockeys are generally outliers. They are presented with much higher common mental health disorders.”

The study also revealed that burnout was a common feature among the jockeys, along with the high prevalence of adverse alcohol use, and nearly a quarter of the jockeys revealed that they were contemplating retirement.

“Racing is such a one-man's game. You're paddling your own canoe. You think 'I must be strong by myself, I just keep it to myself, I handle everything else.' I drive myself everywhere, I sort all of my rides, I sort my finances. You just become independent because you absolutely have to be, and I think it drips into the psychological side as well,” said one jockey who participated in the study.

However, when asked about why they were not seeking out support from medical professional health services in the study Barriers and Facilitators to Help-Seeking for Mental Health Difficulties Among Professional Jockeys in Ireland conducted in 2022, barriers included 'a need to appear strong in front of others' and a stigma towards accessing support services, a lack of knowledge about the support services available, confidentiality concerns and a self-stigma about asking for help.

“Confidentiality is a big part of my work as well, in that jockeys are very concerned about that if they actually seek out support, how confidential that particular service will be and how others will perceive that. If a trainer knows that a jockey is getting some kind of health support, are they maybe going to make different decisions about putting that jockey up on a horse? Will that affect their perception of that jockey from a hardiness type of perspective? These are some things to think and reflect on,” explained Losty. “If we understand these risk factors, we can put in programs and supports in place very early. It's okay to seek out support.”

Losty shared a similar study conducted in 2021 on Racehorse Trainer Mental Health: Prevalence and Risk Factors, which revealed many of the common mental health disorders that impact jockeys also impact trainers, in the form of depression, alcohol use, distress and anxiety. The stressors for trainers revolved around career dissatisfaction, lower levels of social support and financial difficulties, which would increase the likelihood of meeting the threshold for depression and anxiety.

“They are under pressure from owners to ensure high performance, a high standard, and they are also required to manage the staff. They are looking after staff welfare and they're looking after the horses' welfare, which again is high stress, and not a 9-5 role or somewhere where you can just leave your job at the gate when you leave the yard,” said Losty.

Though there has not been as much research in a broader sense on employees across Ireland's Thoroughbred industry, outside of the specific roles of jockeys and trainers, O'Neill referenced research from several studies conducted in Australia and the UK on stable staff that revealed they were experiencing extreme fatigue and poor sleep habits, along with symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Stressors included high workloads, poor work-life balance and a lack of training and career progression.

She explained that an industry-wide staff shortage was negatively influencing an already stretched workforce, dealing with increased workloads, heightened demands and intensified hours.

“Stable staff and those in the breeding sector are the largest population, they're the largest cohort within the Thoroughbred industry and they're the most important. They are the people that are the backbone of the industry. They're passionate, they're dedicated, they're determined to commit their lives to the care and welfare of the horses. Their dedication is vital to the welfare of the industry,” said O'Neill. “It's very notable that you don't see them as statistics, but they're real, they are individuals. They are the people that we need to be able to develop interventions with in this country, which we hope to be able to do in the future.”

Farmers are very relatable to those in the equine industry, and Thoroughbred industry more specifically, as they are a unique cohort themselves, often situated in rural, isolated places with isolated work and a seemingly endless workload, as independent sole traders.

“In general we are pre-wired to be negative about ourselves and hard on ourselves, so if we're not able to believe in things like, 'I am loved. I am worthy. I am good at this. I have good friends. I make good relationships. I'm successful,' then we start to feel the opposite of all of that and that can be a horribly negative space to live in,” said Pugh. “In general, the higher our self-esteem, the better our mental fitness is.”

In terms of moving forward and offering further support to those in the Thoroughbred industry, a common message among the panellists was an increased emphasis on removing the stigma that asking for help reveals weakness, when in reality, it's one of the bravest things an individual can do. This begins with education on what mental fitness and health is and what services are available to those in the industry, with a request for organisations to take a bigger role in sharing this information.

Helping to increase mental health literacy among those in the industry is a main priority. Along those lines, encouraging individuals to analyse what support they are getting for themselves and what they could offer in terms of support was also discussed.

“You don't take your car to the garage when it breaks down, you service it regularly so it's able to ferry you to and fro. So it's very important to be able to look after yourself. Often the greatest strength is to be able to ask for help and I think it's very important for everyone to realize that there is support out there for anyone who does need help,” said O'Neill.

Losty shared the major points that fall under 'how to be a good adult,' which can be applied broadly in every day life, including listening to people, giving them time and space, looking for windows of opportunity to have those important conversations about someone's mental health, not judging them and using personal experiences to relate to the conversation at hand.

“You don't have to have the answers for them, but you can be that key 'one good adult' or that link person for them to engage in those support services. Again, it's about not being afraid to have those conversations,” said Losty.

A new concept that the panellists shared will hopefully be rolling out in the next few months is that of 'Well-Being Champions,' where individuals who are interested will undergo resilience training, mental health awareness training, risk management training, and bullying and harassment training. After training, the well-being champions will serve as an extra source of support for their peers in the industry.

O'Neill also shared that further research will be conducted on relevant industry personnel to explore the challenges and difficulties they face, organizing a panel of external counsellors across the country and including mental health training within the overarching field of first aid training.

Though the lives of those in the industry revolve around the horses, first and foremost, it's crucial that industry participants remember that their well-being and mental health is just as important. There is never a bad or wrong time to ask for help and accept support.

For more information on this seminar and the information discussed, visit the ITBA website.

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Warner's classes are dubbed “Horse Powered Leadership” and they focus on encouraging team harmony in a corporate setting. The classes are designed to teach attendees something about themselves, how they work with others and how teams work together, the Courier Journal reports.

A California transplant, Warner says classes utilizing horses in this teaching capacity are very common in California and Arizona. Horses offer clear feedback to class attendees in a way not often seen in a work-related setting. Understanding social cues is a skill that has gone mostly unneeded as many people have worked remotely for over a year.

Warner teaches several different types of classes, but the end goal of each is the same: to let the horse expose the attendee's strengths and weaknesses, then to use that knowledge to become more productive.

Read more at the Courier-Journal.

Learn more about Horse Powered Leadership here.

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The magazine Science recently reported on the process undertaken by Dr. Martine Hausberger to create a mobile headband that detects equine brainwaves, offering insight into their emotions.

Hauseberger was investigating whether stressed horses had a harder time learning how to open a sliding door, when he noticed that animals confined to cramped spaces had a more difficult time paying attention to lessons. He hypothesized that the confined animals might be depressed.

Hauseberger wanted to use an electroencephalogram (EEG) on the horse to better understand his state of mind. An EEG machine measures electrical impulses in the brain and have been used to study sleep patterns and epilepsy in humans for over 100 years. More recently, EEGs have been used to decipher brain waves related to anxiety, depression, and contentedness.

Hausberger and neurophysicist Dr. Hugo Cousillas modified a wearable human EEG headband to fit the equine head. It includes just four electrodes and has no wires, making it usable up to 60 feet away from the receiver. The duo engaged the help of Dr. Mathilde Stomp and used the new EEG on 18 horses. Half of the study group lived outside in a herd and half lived in stalls.

The groups had very different EEG readouts: the horses kept in stalls exhibited 2.5 times more of the waves that indicate distraction, depression, and anxiety than their turned-out counterparts. The turned-out horses had more of the brain waves that indicate calmness and attentiveness.

Though equine brain waves can't be interpreted in the same manner as human brainwaves, it's an interesting way of measuring equine mental health.

Read more at Science.

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A team of scientists from Kyoto University assessed the tractability of 167 Thoroughbred racehorses at a training center by having their handlers fill out a questionnaire. A genetic analysis was then run on each horse, focusing on a serotonin receptor gene that was associated with anxiety-related traits in other species. 

The researchers found a significant association between one variation of the serotonin receptor gene and lower tractability (less easily managed or controlled), specifically in fillies. The team concluded that the gene might play a role in a horse's trainability and its effect may be partially dependent on the horse's gender. 

Read more at EQUUS magazine.

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University of Sydney researcher Dr. Iris Bergmann notes that the equation between horses moving freely and the regimented training protocol many racehorses undergo seems to be flawed. Bergmann created a study, recently published in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal Animals, in which researchers interviewed nine Thoroughbred senior and executive-level industry participants from the United States and Australia, as well as from one international organization. Seven people affiliated with animal advocacy groups also participated. They were from Australia, Britain and the United States.

Bergmann showed each participant four racing-related images (which can be seen here) and sought their opinions. She found that the people involved in the racing industry used assumptions of Thoroughbred nature as explanations for their expressions and behaviors; for example, that the horses are “hot” and needed various methods and means to control them.

For Bergmann, this implies that those involved in the industry normalize and occasionally downplay the behavior and expression of Thoroughbreds. Industry participants viewed the images they were shown more as visual issues than equine welfare problems, holding to the idea that the horse is actually excited and ready to race. Bergmann notes that this reaction is consistent with the view that racing is a natural activity for Thoroughbreds.

Study participants from the animal welfare organizations felt that Thoroughbreds have become a product of human breeding. These individuals viewed the images as expressions of stress and anxiety. They reported that they felt these horses were “hot” because of the practices used on them to encourage them to race. These advocates also cited a problem with the images, but they feel it involved the lack of public visibility of other welfare issues facing racing Thoroughbreds.

Bergmann's study concluded that the way “naturalness” for horses is viewed directly impacts the welfare of racing Thoroughbreds; the problem is much broader than what those involved in the industry consider attention-worthy. Bergmann believes that the industry's limited interest in addressing common handling, training and racing practices poses significant threats to Thoroughbred welfare and questions the legitimacy of the industry as a whole.

Read the full study here.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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Working in racing has always been a stressful occupation; a roller-coaster of emotions, triumphs and tragedies, long hours and travel. Add a global pandemic and unprecedented economic worry, with many participants fearing for their health, livelihoods and businesses, and the stress can become almost overwhelming. It’s the sort of topic many people don’t like to talk about, but we asked several industry participants to open about what particular stresses they were feeling during these very concerning times, and how they were dealing with them. We open up with a remarkable letter that National HBPA CEO Eric Hamelback has sent to his membership.

To say this year has been rough would certainly be the understatement of 2020 (so far). What we have all experienced personally and as an industry can undoubtedly be defined by one of the more commonly used words this year—unprecedented. We have seen events canceled amid health concerns even while implementing social distancing guidelines, experienced resource insecurity and much more.

All of that combined can affect our mental health and well-being. I feel that the topic of mental health, in particular, is not being discussed as much as it should be. With the issues our industry has had this year, we should all pay more attention to mental stress, which continues to burden many within our industry as well as those around us. Many of you reading this may not know that May was Mental Health Awareness Month. But we can still let it serve as a reminder to us all that self-care is critically important in addressing the stresses and disappointments stemming not only from the COVID-19 pandemic but also those being felt in our industry.

Rarely would I make my CEO letter personal, but this letter will be just that—personal. Stress on one’s mental health can affect us all—including you and me. Within the racing and breeding industry, I know mental health conditions can affect trainers, assistants, farm managers, jockeys, grooms and hot walkers, who all work in high-pressure environments. The lack of conversation about the subject can lead to crippling anxiety and depression, and in some extreme circumstances, it can lead to suicide. The suicide rates within the horse racing industry and within agriculture as a whole are alarming.

This topic strikes me to the core and has significantly affected me as well as my family. I know because I have experienced these conditions. This letter, while personal in nature, is meant to strike a chord in everyone, and I urge you to please take the effort to look around and help when help is needed. Many of you know my history, and I am able to talk at length about my fight with anxiety and severe depression, which I dealt with while under the extreme pressure of working for two major operations in the industry.

I read a post on Facebook recently from a friend who shared the thoughts of someone who posted their personal struggles with mental stress, and seeing this post inspired me to openly discuss this topic in my CEO letter. This very private post forced me to recall times in my life and in my career when the mental burdens of my positions became almost unsurmountable. I learned how much stress can take a toll on your physical and mental health, and I recognized I needed help. Unfortunately, many do not. Now, I understand how important it is to give assistance to those in need, and it is just as important for those of us suffering from stress to recognize the problem and then reach out for support.

The consequences of not getting support are becoming a staggering statistic.  According to the National Institute of Mental Health Disorders, each year one in four people suffer from a mental health problem, which is why I hope to become more progressively involved in making sure this topic is more openly discussed and that assistance is made available in our industry. Organizations such as the National HBPA and the Race Track Chaplaincy of America need to put forth better efforts toward mental health recognition, aid in the promotion and adoption of good mental health practices, promote positive public health messages and be a resource to help horsemen find mental health care providers.

The occurrence of stress and mental well-being issues within our industry is indicative of the need for all of us to do a better job of recognizing the signs and offering assistance and support. We should be taking action on the most basic of levels, simply by opening up mental health discussions within our operations. Talking openly to one another about how we are feeling and leaning on one another for support could influence those who need help to take steps in the direction of professional support.

If more and more of us open up about the struggles we have experienced personally, it will lead to others jumping onboard to support those in need or to ask for help. We must eradicate the stigma many have about mental health issues and work harder toward recognition, treatment and recovery.

I ask that you please join me—a survivor—in working toward lowering the disturbing trend that is growing in our culture and in our industry. “Horsemen Helping Horsemen” is the motto of the National HBPA, and that has never been more important than right now. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. If you think someone else needs help, don’t be afraid to offer. We can all make a positive difference in the lives of others in our industry.

Would you like to share your thoughts on stress during this particularly difficult time? Email the TDN’s Katie Ritz at katieritz@thetdn.com or Sue Finley at suefinley@thetdn.com.

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