News

93.3% have experienced kindness in the equestrian community

Monday, 12 May 2025

In a recent survey conducted by mental health charity Riders Minds, released in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Week, 12-18 May, 93.3% of respondents said that they have experienced kindness in the equestrian community and 98.1% stating they have carried out an act of kindness for someone else. 

Kindness matters given it significantly contributes to overall well-being, and can even reduce stress and anxiety.

With the theme of ‘Power in Community’ for Mental Health Awareness Week 2025, Riders Minds set out to find more about the perceptions within the equestrian community, with results revealing that 66.5% have felt positively supported by the equestrian community.

The statistics revealed that more people have in-person equestrian related safe spaces (61%), compared to only 33.8% of respondents that have an online safe equestrian-related space, highlighting an area for education and improvement.

More concerning, of the 210 respondents, 80.5% have experienced poor mental health in the last three years, with just 35.4% of those choosing to seek professional support.

Riders Minds Mental Health Consultant, Sylvia Bruce said, “Seeing 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.

"However, those results for people experiencing poor mental health are high, exceeding the commonly cited 1 in 4 statistic. Whilst that’s worrying, what’s intriguing is that only a minority of those sought professional support, and that warrants further exploration.”

To find out more about Riders Minds and the mental health and wellbeing support offered to all equestrians go to ridersminds.org.

All of the Riders Minds services are free, 100% confidential and accessible 24 hours a day. If you would like to talk to one of our trained team please call the helpline on 0800 088 2073, or text 07480 488 103, or access the web chat through ridersminds.org.