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Equine Injury: Elite Young Riders’ Psychological Response

Abstract

Sport is considered a high-risk environment for athletes sustaining injury. Athletes are known to experience negative psychological responses to injury, which can destabilise identity. For athletes, identity is typically constructed around participation in sport, and after injury this identity can be threatened. Within equestrian sport, the addition of a partner athlete also at risk of injury presented a unique circumstance for investigation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the psychological responses of elite young riders (YR) to the injury of their horses. Five riders competing internationally at YR level for dressage, show jumping and eventing were interviewed about their experiences when their horse suffered serious or career-ending injuries. Interview questions explored athletes’ careers, initial reactions to injury, coping mechanisms and return to elite competition. Thematic analysis revealed that riders re-evaluated their identity as elite athletes and experienced a significant sense of loss when their horses became injured. This appraisal of loss led to YR’s experiencing denial and guilt at the onset of injury akin to personal injury in athletes. As riders perceive the horse as part of the ‘athlete’ package, they are at heightened risk of injury-related psychological stress when compared to other individual athletes. Riders reported mixed views on common sources of social support, suggesting a need for pre-emptive coping education in addition to intervention resources within equestrian sport to minimise the psychological impact of injury, particularly at YR level.

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Psychological responses of elite young riders to the injury of their horses

Introduction

In Olympic equestrian disciplines (dressage, eventing and show jumping) both the horse and rider must work as a team to achieve a final combined performance result (Wipper, 2000; Beauchamp and Whinton, 2005; Williams, 2013; Lamperd, Clarke, Wolframm and Williams, 2016) therefore riders need to build a strong working relationship with their horses based on mutual trust and respect (Dashper, 2014). Riders invest many hours into the training and care of their horses and many have sacrificed their social life and even family to reach elite level, often forming a close bond with their horse, considering them family (Mills and McNicholas, 2005; Brewer et al. 1993). This is particularly true for the Young Rider (YR) in equestrian sport. YR’s compete internationally within their age class (16 – 21 years old) in Olympic disciplines, and this is often their first experience of international competition. At 21 years old riders aim to transition to elite senior competition following their career at YR events. Normative (expected) transitions occur naturally during an athlete’s progression, such as between junior and senior competition, and act as turning points in which identity and motivation are reviewed (Stambulova, 2000). Whilst normative transitions are considered extremely important to success in sport (Wylleman and Lavallee, 2004), it is the non-normative (unexpected) transitions that are often considered more challenging to athlete progression. Non-normative transitions are defined as unexpected incidents resulting in an athlete experiencing significant changes or disruption to their usual routine, such as injury (Stambulova, 2000; Wylleman and Lavallee, 2004). For equestrian sport, there is a heightened risk of injury due to the partnership between horse and rider, and high risk of injury within competitive equestrianism to both parties. Lamperd et al. (2016) suggested that coping with adversity, such as losing a horse, is an important trait in becoming an elite athlete and something that distinguishes the elite from non-elite in sporting contexts. Riders have been reported to experience grief at the loss of a horse (Brackenridge and Shoemaker, 1996; Endenburg et al. 1999) although the impact of injury has been less explored. If young riders experience significant set-backs resulting from injury during or close to transitional periods, this could influence their future career progression, and result in attrition from the sport.

Injury of the horse is common within equestrian disciplines both at competition and within training (O’Brien, Stevens, Pfeiffer, Hall and Marr, 2005; Murray et al. 2010; Egenvall et al. 2013; Munsters, Broek, Welling, Weeran and Oldruitenborg-Oosterbaan, 2014). For example, Singer, Barnes, Saxby and Murray (2008) identified that for every 1000 cross-country starters, 4.5 horses were injured whilst Murray et al. (2010) found that 33% of dressage horses have been reported lame in their lifetime due to injury. Lameness was found to be even more prevalent at the elite level; with 50% of Grand Prix horses reported lame in the concluding two years of the study (Murray et al. 2010). Injuries also occur in the training environment as well; Singer et al. (2008) found that 37.8% of Intermediate event horses studied did not compete as intended within the season, of which 60% of those cited injury as the main reason for withdrawal. Furthermore, studies have found that depending on discipline and level of competition, 21% - 45% of horses per annum were required to withdraw prior to competition due to musculoskeletal injuries (O’Brien et al. 2005; Munsters et al. 2014).

Athletes are known to experience complex psychological responses to injury, including changes in cognitive appraisal, emotional responses and behavioural changes post-injury (Wiese-Bjornstal, Smith, Shaffer and Morrey, 1998). The cognitive appraisal process suggests that injury triggers a cognitive re-evaluation for the athlete, assessing their coping resources, injury severity and prognosis for recovery, the re-adjustment of goals and

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subsequent sense of relief or loss dependent on whether goals are met (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). Cognitive appraisal influences the emotional responses of the athlete; a positive appraisal of coping ability may lead to a positive emotional response, whereas a sense of loss resulting from injury may lead to emotions such as grief, fear, frustration or anger (Tracey, 2003; Thatcher, Kerr, Amies and Day, 2007; Walker Thatcher and Lavelle, 2007). In paired sports, research into the psychological consequences of another person’s injury on a teammate has been undertaken (Day et al. 2013; Kerr, 2007; O’Neil, 2008). Defined as vicarious trauma, it can have a profound impact on those experiencing it with athletes reporting emotional reactions such as horror, fear, helplessness and depression as a result of observing their team-mate being injured (Day et al. 2013; O’Neil, 2008). If YR’s were to experience vicarious trauma because of injury to their horse, this could have negative repercussions for their transition to elite level competition, increasing attrition from equestrian sport.

The psychological impact of injury can result in the athletic identity of the individual decreasing, because perception of self-worth or esteem is threatened during cognitive appraisal (Brewer, Cornelius, Stephan and Van Raalte, 2010). Athletic identity is defined as ‘the degree to which an individual identifies with the athlete role’ and is a factor in determining the degree to which an individual determines their self-competence and worth as a person (Brewer, Van Raalte and Linder, 1993). Athletes will often choose to only participate in activities that benefit their athletic identity, only building relationships that confirm their worth as an athlete (Heird and Steinfeldt, 2013), resulting in an identity is typically created at the expense of other aspects of the individual’s life (Hoberman, 2000). Athletes who have formulated their identity solely around sport often experience increased stress during transitional periods, such as injury or retirement, as performance is closely tied to their identity (Pummel, Harwood and Lavallee, 2008). For equestrian athletes, their identity may be tied around two aspects of equestrian sport, being a competitive equestrian athlete, much the same as in other realms of sport, but also that of a horse person, caring for and looking after their animal. Dashper (2017) suggests that being ‘horsey’ is a universally accepted construct, and has shared norms, values and behaviours regardless of professional or amateur status, therefore suggesting that equestrianism may have an established identity outside of competitive status.

Following emotional responses, athletes will likely experience behavioural changes in response to the injury (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998) which can positively or negatively impact rehabilitation success depending on an athlete’s cognitive appraisal. Behavioural responses include adherence to rehabilitation activities, use of psychological skills strategies, use or disengagement from social support structures, risk taking behaviours and behavioural coping techniques (Wiese-Bjornstal et al. 1998). These responses will influence the athlete’s ability to return to play successfully, and the quality and efficacy of their rehabilitation (Santi and Pietrantoni, 2013). Disengagement from a community after injury can lead to increased feelings of isolation, which is negatively associated with adherence to rehabilitation in athletes (Harris, 2003; Rees et al. 2010). Many athletes fail to return to their pre-injury level of performance and this is often attributed to the lack of pre-emptive educational measures or interventions provided to them (Arvinen-Barrow and Walker, 2013). These interventions reduce the denial and distress phases of the ‘affective cycle of injury’ model, associated with the emotional response to injury (O’Connor, Colantonio and Polatajko, 2005). By reducing the denial phase at the onset of injury, athletes are more likely to take an active role in their rehabilitation, refocusing goals to make use of their rehabilitation to improve other constructs such as strength, endurance or confidence, and is define as determined coping (O’Connor et al. 2005). Determine coping is seen earlier in athletes who undergo early education

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interventions, such as interventions in managing emotions, goal setting to enhance motivation and resilience and the provision of social support (Santi and Pietrantoni, 2013). Social support is particularly important in maintaining adherence to rehabilitation, as well as being a key factor in coping with non-normative transitions such as injury and is a significant predictor in attaining elite status in sport (Pummel, Harwood and Lavallee, 2008). Social support was identified by young riders transitioning to senior level as a key indicator of the success of that transition (Pummel, Harwood and Lavallee, 2008) however this has yet to be studied in non-normative transitions with equestrian sport.

The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological responses which elite young riders experienced when their horses were injured and the degree to which they felt their athletic identity had been impacted.

Methodology

Participants

Five elite young rider participants (all female, aged 22 – 35 years old) were selected based on their competition level and their horse’s injury status. The inclusion criteria required that participants must have competed within dressage, eventing or show jumping to an international standard or competed within the YR programme. The requirements for each disciplines were to compete to at least: Grand Prix (dressage); CIC*** (eventing) or 1.40m competition (show jumping). The participants must have ridden an elite horse which had sustained a serious (requiring more than three months’ rehabilitation) or career ending injury within the last two years. At the time of interview, all five riders had returned to competitive equestrian sport. Four of the riders’ horses had experienced career-ending injuries while one horse had experienced a serious injury. In equestrian sport, success at elite level is associated with the individual rider’s persona and ‘system’ and can foster a reluctance to openly discuss personal and professional practice, thereby limiting riders’ engagement with research aiming to explore these constructs (Lamperd et al. 2016; Williams, 2013). Coping with adversity, such as injury, is considered a key factor in performance success and progression to elite level (Lamperd et al, 2016), therefore it could be assumed that riders may not want to share their strategies in dealing with injury, limiting the available sample. The sample size does however echo Mosewich, Crocker and Kowalski’s (2013) study on elite female athletes’ psychological recovery from injury, where sufficient data were collected to conclude accurate themes.

Procedure

University ethical approval was gained prior to contacting the participants. All participants were sourced through industry contacts. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data as they allowed the researcher to further investigate the participants’ responses by asking further questions. Having guiding questions helps the interview from straying too far from the vital questions of the study (Marshall and Rossman, 2006; Santiago, 2009). An interview guide (Figure 1) was developed based on the psychology of sport injury research and the authors’ experiences with severe equine injuries. The interview guide was designed to address pre-injury career, the rehabilitation phase, pre-return to competition phase issues and coping strategies used by riders (Podlog, Dimmock and Miller, 2012). All names given in this study are pseudonyms to protect the anonymity of the participants. Each interview lasted approximately 45 minutes and was recorded using an IPhone 5 voice memo recorder.

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Consideration of researcher characteristics could influence interpretation of the findings. The research team was composed of a student researcher and two members of academic staff specializing in sports psychology and equine science. Two of the researchers have extensive equine backgrounds. Collaborative efforts among individuals with varied experiences proved multiple vantage points for interpreting the data.

Data Analysis

The researcher read and re-read the transcripts to become familiar with the data. Descriptive coding was used, allowing the researcher to summarize a short phrase with one word. The researcher found common themes within the data using thematic coding (Saldana, 2009). Thematic analysis was selected over content analysis because it allowed new information to emerge from the data and did not seek to answer a hypothesis or quantify themes (Bloomberg and Volpe, 2008). Key quotes were also selected to aid in the discussion of the research (Bloomberg and Volpe, 2008). The researcher created links between all of the interviews and the coding using thematic analysis, identifying any reoccurring patterns in the research (Boyatzis, 1998; Howett and Cramer, 2010). The themes identified by the primary researcher were independently confirmed by the remaining authors. Ultimately, the analysis resulted in three higher order themes: cognitive appraisal, emotional responses and coping resources (Figure 2).

Figure 1: Interview Guide

Interview Guide

1) Introductory Questions

2) Riding Profile

Tell me about the horse and your competition history.

How many hours per day did you train?

Did you own this particular horse? How long for?

Prior to your horse becoming injured, what where your goals?

3) Horse Injury

When did the horse get injured?

What type of injury, and what was the prognosis?

How did this affect the rest of your season?

How long was the rehab?

4) Psychological Responses

What were your initial feelings when your horse was injured?

Describe three emotions you experienced when you found out your horses diagnosis.

Do you feel as though your emotions would be different if you did/did not own the horse?

Did you know what to do next when your horse became injured?

Did you speak to anyone about your feelings? Did it help? If so, how?

Did you feel as though any parts of your life were missing, and if so please explain?

How did this affect your riding?

Were you still able to compete? How did you respond/react to this?

Did you strictly adhere to your horses rehab programme?

Did the horse’s injury affect any other parts of your life?

How did you stay mentally and physically active?

Did you stay involved in the sport?

Why was this? How did this make you feel?

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Results and Discussion

Riders interviewed in this study were all successful graduates of the YR programmes in their respective disciplines and were all in their last year of YR competition when the equine injury occurred (See Table 1).

Table 1: Participant details including rider age, competitive level and equine injury status

Monica Gina Jessica Stacey Kate

Discipline Dressage Dressage Eventing Eventing Showjumping

Competition Level before

injury

World Equestrian

Games Contender,

reserve horse & rider

combination for FEI World

Cup

PSG, aiming for YR

internationals

Aiming Under 25 Championships

at Bramham, qualified for

CCI3*

CIC 3*International

classes 1.40m as YR

No. of horses before injury Multiple 1

2 (other horse retired prior to current horse

injury)

2 (other horse

youngster)1

Owned injured horse?

No Yes Yes Yes Yes

Rider age at the time of

injuryApprox. 25 20 20-21 Approx. 21 Under 21

Equine InjurySuspensory

Ligament Injury

Recurrent Suspensory

Ligament Injury

Suspensory Ligament Injury

Osteoarthr-itis

Fractured distal phalanx

Recovery of Horse Retired Retired Retired Retired Full recovery

Cognitive Appraisal

Sense of Loss & Grief (5/5)

Athlete Identity (4/5)

Emotional responses

Denial (5/5)

Guilt (3/5)

Coping responses

Avoidance (3/5)

Resilience (3/5)

Social systems (5/5)

Interview Guide

1) Introductory Questions

2) Riding Profile

Tell me about the horse and your competition history.

How many hours per day did you train?

Did you own this particular horse? How long for?

Prior to your horse becoming injured, what where your goals?

3) Horse Injury

When did the horse get injured?

What type of injury, and what was the prognosis?

How did this affect the rest of your season?

How long was the rehab?

4) Psychological Responses

What were your initial feelings when your horse was injured?

Describe three emotions you experienced when you found out your horses diagnosis.

Do you feel as though your emotions would be different if you did/did not own the horse?

Did you know what to do next when your horse became injured?

Did you speak to anyone about your feelings? Did it help? If so, how?

Did you feel as though any parts of your life were missing, and if so please explain?

How did this affect your riding?

Were you still able to compete? How did you respond/react to this?

Did you strictly adhere to your horses rehab programme?

Did the horse’s injury affect any other parts of your life?

How did you stay mentally and physically active?

Did you stay involved in the sport?

Why was this? How did this make you feel?

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Figure 2: Higher and Lower Order Themes that emerged from participant interviews

The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological responses that elite riders experienced when their horses were injured and the degree to which they felt their athletic identity was impacted.

Cognitive appraisal.

The first major theme that arose within the data was the cognitive appraisal processes undertaken by the participants. Riders experienced a significant sense of loss at the onset of their horse’s injury and this led to re-evaluation of their role as an elite rider and threatened their athletic identity.

Sense of loss & grief.

All athletes within this study discussed devastation at the onset of injury, a sense of loss of the horse and their career aspirations and subsequent grief-like symptoms.

“…and disappointment, depressing sadness, a sense of loss, and reality of the situation hits you. First, you are sad for the horse, then sad for your dreams, kind of if your career gets limited your dreams get limited. It is a loss, a real disappointment on so many levels, you are sad about many things.” (Monica)

“Honestly, I wanted to die. I remember it exactly. I never left her, never. I don’t think I left the bed for like 3 days. So it was worse than any break up I have ever been through.” (Jessica)

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Wiese-Bjornstal et al. (1998) suggested that a sense of loss was a negative aspect of the cognitive appraisal process in athletes at the onset of injury that may result in grief-like emotions. The loss experienced post-injury is often attributed to lost career or goal aspirations, although for equestrian sport this could also be considered a literal loss if the horse requires euthanasia (Endenburg, Kirpensteijn, and Sanders, 1999). In elite level athletes, like the riders in this study, this is a more prominent response due to the emotional and financial investment within the sport and their sense of purpose being disrupted by the onset of injury (Bianco, Malo and Orlick, 1999). There is also increased psychological disturbance for those who are emotionally unprepared (Baillie and Danish, 1992) and those whose return to sport is uncertain (Bianco et al. 1999). The associated trauma of the injury is based on the perception of the loss (Green and Weinberg, 2001), which if sufficient can evoke a grief-like response in athletes (Mankad and Gordan, 2010). Riders have been reported to experience grief at the loss of a horse through death (Brackenridge and Shoemaker, 1996; Endenburg et al. 1999) and it appears from this research that YR’s also experience this loss as a result of equine injury.

Athlete identity.

Injury to the horse made riders question their own personal athlete identity, suggesting that for equestrian sport, the rider views the ‘athlete’ persona to consider both species, as a partnership as well as in isolation. For four out of five YR’s, identity was ‘lost’ after being unable to compete as an elite equestrian. Sparkes (1998) found that an elite rider was incapable of transitioning into a new identity after she was no longer able to ride at the elite level. By identifying the ‘athlete’ in equestrian sport as inclusive of both horse and rider, riders could be considered at heightened risk of injury-related psychological issues than other athletes.

“I am not sure, I don’t really know. I don’t know if I’d be classed as an elite rider… I think elite riding is at the top level and I can’t say I am really riding at the top level. I don’t really feel like I deserve to be called it because that was a while ago.” (Gina)

“I felt like everyone I knew that met me after the horses didn’t really know me. Because the horses were me, that was all I had done since I was 13 in my life…And it’s kinda embarrassing to bring up but I have to requalify for everything at the FEI level. And even though I am young it feels like I am a has been if that makes any sense.” (Jessica)

Athletic identity drives athletic oriented behaviours and causes the athlete to make decisions in order to enhance their role as an athlete (Horton and Mack, 2010; Heird and Steinfeldt, 2013). Athletes can become overcommitted to their role, never considering a future identity or self outside of their sport (Gapin and Petruzzello, 2011). For athletes with obsessive passion, injury poses a psychological and identity based threat, as they can no longer compete in the sport that is exclusive to their identity (Rip, Fortin and Vallerand, 2006). Davies and Collins (2015) suggested that equestrianism in particular exhibits the characteristics required to build high self-esteem in riders due to the social environment, as well as their unique connection to the horse, which is echoed by Dashper (2017) who suggests that ‘horsey’ is a understood social construct within this population, with expectations and social norms that influence behaviour. This could suggest that equestrian athletes may be more likely to have developed a strong athlete identity surrounding their role as a rider, thus are more likely to have lowered self-esteem after injury.

Emotional responses.

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Riders mentioned experiencing emotions such as disappointment, panic, depression, sadness, heartbreak, fear, deflated, hysterical, fatigue, guilt, devastation, loss, feeling stuck, denial, anger, frustration, and feeling broken. In response to injury of their horse, two common rider emotions emerged from the data: Denial, and Guilt:-

Denial.

All athletes in this study discussed initial denial upon equine diagnosis, one athlete refusing to accept the career-ending prognosis against the advisement of the veterinarian.

“I thought I could bring him back from it, so I gave him a couple weeks off and in my head I thought he was going to be this miracle horse that could come back and still do Blenheim, but he retired then.” (Stacey)

Denial is considered the first stage of the Kübler-Ross Grief Model (1969) and can encompass negating injury severity or consequences of the injury on the long-term sporting career (Santi and Pietrantoni, 2013). Athletes experiencing denial may refuse or disengage with treatment or rehabilitation, or continually seek a contradictory diagnosis from different physicians (Harris, 2003). Decisions to deny or ignore the injury often results in athletes experiencing emotional instability, which subsequently leads to stronger emotional reactions and increased difficulty in coping with stress (Samuel et al. 2015). Whilst considered a protective mechanism against anxiety, those in denial after trauma appear to be able to adjust less well than those who confront the incident directly (Mohta, Sethi, Tyagi and Mohta, 2003).

Guilt.

Three riders experienced guilt as a means of self-punishment, by attributing the cause of the injury to their own actions (McNamee, 2001). Guilt suggests responsibility for an incident and is often related to one’s view of oneself and others’ expectations (McNamee, 2001). Guilt is considered one of the more threatening emotions as it can result in separation from social support that is essential to physical and psychological recovery (Harris, 2003). Self-blame and guilt are commonly observed in injured athletes (Bianco, 2001; Mosewich et al. 2013) and are typically associated with team sports identified by athletes themselves as ‘letting the team/coach down’ (Podlog and Eklund, 2007; Bianco, 2001).

“I was very upset, quite cross with myself because I knew that he was prone to this injury, having had it before. I felt that I must have changed something in his training or done it too much…I felt like I did it myself.” (Gina)

“I went through a lot of guilt with both of my horse’s injuries. I completely blamed myself. I was literally like, what have I done, I am an idiot.” (Jessica)

Guilt as an emotional self-punishment for unintentionally causing injury is debated in morality research (Mohta et al. 2003; McNamee, 2001). Deliberate actions to inflict harm on others within a sporting context is considered morally wrong, and the lack of guilt in this instance would demonstrate lack of empathy or care within the athlete at fault. When the injury is unintentional however, guilt as a moral concept is less understood. Whilst accidental, trauma patients often admit guilt associated with the events leading up to the incident resulting in hospitalisation of themselves and others (Mohta et al. 2003). Guilt without cognitive delusion suggests that an agent can feel guilty as a result of passive casual involvement (McNamee, 2001). During recovery, athletes may come to recognise more appropriate emotions, such as sorrow or regret, which may demonstrate the correct emotional

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response to the inadvertent injury of others, but does not connect responsibility to the harm (McNamee, 2001). This transition of emotions was not recognised in the riders in this study, perhaps due to the unique situation riders are in with their horses, where the ultimate decisions that led to the injury are the rider’s responsibility, through training or management of the horse.

Dashper (2014) suggests that guilt is experienced by riders for decisions to put their own career progression ahead of the horse and their relationship, due to the increased commercialisation of equestrian sport. This was seen in three riders in this study, expressed as not wanting to ‘move on’ to another horse for fear of dishonouring their original partner.

“And I wasn’t falling in love with anything. Like I wanted Rory back, I didn’t care what other horses were out there I just wanted my mare back…So I was holding impossible standards for every horse I sat on.” (Jessica)

“…the disappointment that the horse A. won’t be able to do what he loves and B. won’t be able to truly fill his potential is kind of a sad thing, that the career ended too soon or just when they started coming into their own they get injured.” (Monica)

Coping resources.

All riders discussed coping resources they used after diagnosis of injury. Sub-themes that emerged included avoidance, resilience and social systems.

Avoidance.

Two types of avoidance coping were discussed by three athletes in this study, behavioural avoidance coping and cognitive avoidance coping (Carson and Polman, 2010). Behavioural avoidance coping is described as a person physically removing themselves from a stressful situation, and was the main source of avoidance coping seen in the athletes within this study. This can be seen in the quote below; the physical removal from the equestrian community to New York.

“So I didn’t have horses and I just focused on school for a little bit…I even went and interned in New York City and tried to work in fashion. Never do that. And I realized I was just completely miserable…I took a step back and realized I was more miserable without it, than I was when my horse was broke.” (Jessica)

Several athletes also utilised cognitive avoidance coping, choosing not to think about their situation using thought-stopping mechanisms (Endler and Parker, 2000; Carson and Polman, 2010). Interestingly one athlete was still utilising cognitive avoidance coping during her interview, suggesting that her psychological recovery is still ongoing.

“…I’m trying to think; sorry this is the sad part. I’m trying to not think about when he died and just about his injury…” (Stacey)

Studies into vicarious trauma have suggested that avoidance coping is a common coping strategy in sports teams after injury or fatalities, particularly demonstrated through behavioural avoidance coping techniques (Day et al. 2013; Vernacchia, Reardon and Templin, 1997). Avoidance coping can be beneficial in acutely stressful situations when the individual has little control over the difficult circumstance, such as injury or loss of a team mate. However, for long-term recovery from injury research has found that avoidance coping is predominantly debilitative for successful return to competition (Kim and Duda, 2003;

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Albinson and Petrie, 2003). For young riders, this may limit their desire to continue into professional/senior competition, and lead to increased attrition from equestrian sport.

Resilience.

Three of the participants in this study transferred their self-determination from training to rehabilitation and future performance after their horses’ injury; one participant in particular discussed ‘spirit of a champion and top level performance’ identifying the hunger that drove them to repeat success.

“…the show must go on, and you get a taste of your dreams actualizing and you get more hungry and more motivated to repeat the success and manage the horse better, it’s a learning process, you take what you can from it and move forward.” (Monica)

Research has found that athletes can experience raised levels of motivation post injury and also experience personal growth and self-determination (Podlog et al. 2011, Tracey, 2011; Wadey, Evans, Hanton and Neil, 2012). Udry, Gould, Bridges and Beck, (1997) identified that 95% of athletes experienced benefits from injury on reflection, with 80% of those reporting personal growth. Athletes suggested that coming back from injury boosted confidence, and 62% of skiers suggested that injury increased mental toughness and resilience (Udry et al. 1997). Interestingly, one rider suggested that to truly be considered a professional in the sport, you needed to have experienced equine injury.

“…they have respect because of what I have been through…everyone kinda knows your history…. So I feel like as much as it sucks, it’s what happens and if you don’t go through that then it is very hard to consider yourself a full professional.” (Jessica)

A recent study by Lamperd et al. (2016) suggested that the characteristics of elite equestrian athletes include positivity in responding to adverse circumstances within their career (including loss of horse to injury). Riders here also quoted honouring the horse by continuing their career, further demonstrating the emotional attachment to riders develop to their horse (Wipper, 2000; Mill and McNicholas, 2005; Symes, 2010; Lamperd et al. 2016); and the support network of coaches, fellow riders and friends despite their setbacks. Social support systems where athletes with mutual experiences support one another in rehabilitation are considered most beneficial (Hogan, Linden and Najarian, 2002; Arvinen-Barrow and Walker, 2010).

Social systems.

All YR’s discussed the support systems in place after the injury had occurred, although there were mixed feelings about the level of support given. Riders suggested that people outside of the equine environment, such as therapists or non-equine parents, were less supportive perhaps due to decreased understanding of the unique situation, whilst ‘horsey people’ were considered the most valuable source of support during the horse’s injury.

“Not really because they [parents] don’t really understand, they aren’t horsey people. I mean they understand it’s sad, but nothing really changed to them… what made it so hard was that my parents didn’t understand.” (Stacey)

“And not that it should bring people closer, but it does. … There is no community like the horse people. And that once again pulled me back in at the same time and I realised that if something awful is going to happen in my life I would rather be surrounded by horses and horse people than other people.” (Jessica)

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Social support is considered positive, negative or neutral; Udry et al. (1997) suggested that more athletes in their study reported negative support than positive. Expertise in the area was considered influential in support preferences (Bianco, 2001), which can be seen in this study. Lehman, Ellard and Wortman (1986) suggested that of those ‘supporters’ who were considered unhelpful, 54% were attributed to family members supporting the findings of this study. Perception of social support can be affected by guilt; athletes who blame themselves for the cause of injury are more likely to withdraw from social support systems (Harris, 2003). Equestrian athletes are ultimately responsible for the training and management of the horse that contributed to the injury so may be more likely to experience guilt, and therefore potentially at increased risk of isolating themselves from social support systems. For young riders, this lack of engagement with social support during this disruptive transition could lead to disengagement from equestrian sport or struggling to reach elite status as a senior rider.

General Discussion

This study identified that elite young riders experience similar psychological responses to the injury of their horses as athletes experience to their own physical injuries including negative cognitive appraisal of the injury stimulating a sense of loss, re-evaluation of self-identity as an elite athlete and negative emotional responses such as denial and guilt. All athletes discussed strategies for coping, most specifically around sources of social support.

The Wiese-Bjornstal et al. (1998) Integrated Model of Psychological Response to Sport Injury and Rehabilitation Process discusses how different situational and personal factors may moderate an athlete’s response to injury. The model suggests that athletes which have many stressors in their life, undesirable personality traits and few coping resources, are likely to appraise a sports injury as more stressful than athletes who have hardiness, limited stressors and developed coping skills (Wadey et al. 2012). All riders in this study were aiming for key international competitions or National team selection at the time of their horses’ injuries, demonstrating high levels of investment and commitment in the sport and their individual horses, which may have heightened the emotional responses felt at the time of the injury (Green and Weinberg, 2001; Brewer, Jeffers, Petipas and Van Raalte, 1994). Two of the riders in this study, at the time of the horse’s injury, were also under additional psychological stress due to unexpected riding accidents resulting in the death of a friend for one rider and a traumatic brain injury of a mentor for another. These distressing events would have severely affected the coping skills of the riders in question, heightening their emotional responses and leading them to further question their commitment to competing in equestrian sport. Whilst one rider did take time away from horses to follow a different career, she did return to the sport to pursue eventing professionally.

The riders in this study established that their identity was formulated around their role as an elite athlete as well as a member of the equestrian community in their pre-injury reality, but all identified experiencing challenges to their identity because of injury to the horse. The extension of athlete identity to include another is unique to equestrian sport, as all equestrian disciplines require the rider and horse to perform as a team (FEI, 2015). The investment and commitment shown by these riders to produce one elite horse means riders develop emotional bonds to the horses they work with (Ojanen, 2012; Wipper, 2000). The British Equestrian Federation’s Long Term Participation Development Plan (LTPD) (2015) explains that by the time a person has developed into an elite rider they are often obsessed with their discipline and it typically dominates their life. Training, competing, and the bond which the rider has formed with their horse becomes part of the rider’s identity (Symes, 2010). The participants in this study felt as though their horses and role as elite young riders’ defined them and their

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lives. Equestrian athletes therefore are at heighten risk of injury related challenges compared to other individual athletes, as they cannot compete within the sport without their horse.

Athletes in this study identified that equestrian-specific support systems offered more positive support than individuals outside of the equestrian environment, such as parents or therapists. Hogan et al. (2002) suggests that mutual interventions with athletes in similar injury situations is more effective than individual sessions; this is something that could be considered as a coping intervention within Young Rider support provision or World Class support structure for elite athletes in equestrian sport (BEF, 2015). Furthermore coping resources as preventative educational measures within elite sports science support as overcoming injury is considered part of achieving elite status within equestrian sport (Lampard et al. 2016). Further research would be needed prior to implementing preventative education and interventions in industry to determine which types of psychological skills training would be most effective for riders whose horse is suffering from severe injury.

There are limitations to consider within the study. Whilst all riders discussed behavioural responses to their horses’ injuries, there were not specifically measured or monitored as part of this study and therefore can only be interpreted as the athletes’ perception of their own behavioural changes. This may be limited by the athlete’s own self-awareness. Furthermore, five participants could be considered small within psychological response to injury research, however the specificity of the inclusion criteria limited the sample population available. As such, these results could be taken as preliminary, with further studies required to support the conclusions across wider populations of riders, within differing disciplines and levels of competition.

Future research in this area should explore the leisure population of riders and how injury to their horse may affect their motivation to continue participating in equestrian activities. In leisure riders, the relationship between horse and rider is familial, taking on owner/pet relationship characteristics and as such, could be considered that leisure riders may be at more risk of negative emotional and psychological responses to equine injury as the competition rider. There are 1.3 million people in the UK who affiliate to being a regular rider, with 446,000 households owning approximately 944,000 horses in 2015 (BETA, 2015), suggesting a large population of people at risk from negative psychological responses to injury of their horse.

Conclusion

The study found that elite young riders experienced negative psychological responses to the injury of their horses. Common negative emotions included denial, and guilt. A sense of loss, and threats to athletic identity were also observed in elite young riders as was mixed feedback on social systems available. Riders perceive the horse as part of the ‘athlete’ package thus are at heighten risk of injury-related psychological stress when compared to other individual athletes. Coping resources for riders are needed within equestrian sport to minimise the psychological impact of injury, particularly for young riders to ensure that the transition from young riders to seniors is accomplished despite injury or set-backs. Social support systems are beneficial for coping with injury in other athletic environments and should be implemented within specific sports science support for elite young riders.

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