Racehorse Trainer Mental Health: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Anxiety and Depression in British Horseracing Stud and Stable Staff Following Occupational Injury

“…Trainers are responsible for the care of the horse, management of employees, relationships with customers and owners, and the running of the business [7], responsibilities that are greatly impacted by personal injury. There is a limited focus on the health and wellbeing of horseracing trainers, despite research to support that small to medium enterprise business owners or managers are at increased risk of depression and burnout [75] due to the high emotional labour [6,33]. King et al [33] recently found 41% of trainers surveyed showed clinical signs of depression, and this study suggests this population is at greater risk of depression following injury than other staffing groups.…”

“…There is a limited focus on the health and wellbeing of horseracing trainers, despite research to support that small to medium enterprise business owners or managers are at increased risk of depression and burnout [75] due to the high emotional labour [6,33]. King et al [33] recently found 41% of trainers surveyed showed clinical signs of depression, and this study suggests this population is at greater risk of depression following injury than other staffing groups. Injury appears to be a key risk factor for depression in racehorse trainers and future research should investigate narrative injury experiences of racehorse trainers, and the interaction of injury and mental health in career satisfaction.…”

“…Injury research has investigated the full range of this definition, from temporary emotional disruption to diagnosable clinical depression [16,24]. Depression is a global public health issue, with approximately 280 million people experiencing depression [28] and is not uncommon amongst athletes [29], military service personnel [14], jockeys [30][31][32], trainers [33] and stable staff populations [3]. Research suggests, in 5-21% of cases, moderate to severe depression is seen post-injury, which can cause dysregulation of the immune system, harming tissue repair [24], and negatively influencing future injury risk [16].…”