This week, 12-18 May 2025, is Mental health Awareness Week, https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week and rather aptly, the theme is communities. These are two subjects that I am really passionate about, but it got me thinking… what are we actually doing and could we do more?
Through my work that I do with pride for mental health charity Riders Minds, https://ridersminds.org/ as their marketing, PR and social media ‘person’ I am constantly educated and when new research comes out it quite often takes me by surprise. This isn’t surprise at the results – but surprise that awareness and support in this area isn’t moving faster, and yet I’m as guilty as the next person and I’ll explain why.
Before we get onto that I took a moment to think about the blog and I have an overwhelming sense of pride as I write this. Our community is quite simply outstanding. The vision that we had to create an online educational platform that was safe and where people could ask questions, get advice, celebrate their wins, or wallow in their lows all without judgement, has far exceeded our expectations.
Equiteam Connected is the exact online model that everyone talks about needing, wanting and craving – and in my opinion is the epitome of a community. Safe, secure, encouraging and supportive with a zero tolerance to anything negative. But does it have a positive impact on people’s mental health and well-being? It’s a super personal question, but I really believe and I hope that it does.
80.5% have experienced poor mental health
The recent Riders Minds survey https://ridersminds.org/2025/05/09/kindness-in-the-equestrian-community/ reported that 93.3% have experienced kindness in the equestrian community – which is brilliant, yet only 33.8% of respondents have an online safe equestrian-related space – why is this?
That is probably rhetorical multifaceted answer. One thing that we can agree on, that there is still so much work to be done in this area.
But back to my first point…
The same survey reports that 80.5% have experienced poor mental health in the last three years, with just 35.4% of those choosing to seek professional support.
Just take a minute to think about that. 4 out of every 5 people have and/or are struggling with poor mental health. As mental health expert Sylvia Bruce said in the Riders Minds press release,
“[The] 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.”
But are we really surprised at these results? Absolutely not.
There is of course room for interpretation on these results, but it is a guide – 4 out of 5 people are putting their hands up and said they have experienced poor mental health and yet only 35% are seeking professional support. Why?
Everyone’s mental health is so personal and what one person sees as stress, another person sees as pressure, what another person finds overwhelming, someone else might see as a challenge – and that also hugely depends on what else is going on in your life and your resilience levels (I believe).
Burnout in the equestrian industry
I have read with interest two recent articles published on Riders Minds, the first one on Burnout in the Equestrian Industry https://ridersminds.org/2025/01/23/almost-half-of-equestrians-are-experiencing-a-high-level-of-burnout/ citing research conducted by Megan Lane, looking at burnout in dual-career equestrians. The results have showed that 47% of those who participated are experiencing high levels of burnout.
Megan did a follow up article https://ridersminds.org/2025/01/30/burnout-in-the-equestrian-industry/ explaining more and looking at recognising the signs, managing burnout and the impact on your mental health. It makes an interesting read for someone like me who is juggling lots of balls!
This was followed by a well-timed bomb just after our April Confidence Camps, when university graduate, Ellie Halsey recently researched ‘Emotional Labour in Equestrian Coaching’ for her MSc in Professional Practice in Sport Coaching with her results highlighting the need for self care and support for equestrian coaches.
You can read her article here: https://ridersminds.org/2025/04/30/emotional-labour-in-equestrian-coaching/ – I read it and, off the back of another mid-camp bout of Shingles, it struck a bit of a chord.
In the piece Ellie talking about Caring Coaches:
"As coaches, we often need to switch ‘hats’ and change from coach to counsellor, cheerleader, motivator or mentor – or even mediator. We need to be emotionally intelligent, be adept at recognising emotions in both ourselves and others and know how to respond accordingly, to build trust and rapport and facilitate development in both horse and rider.”
And Ellie is 100% correct!!
I think it’s apparent to anyone who knows me that I really, really love my coaching, I am so emotionally invested and care so deeply about the people I teach, their horses, their goals, their dreams, their wins and I feel their misfortunes, and I had never even thought of it or likened it to emotional labour.
For me labour feels like something you are doing against will, or something that is really hard. Because I love coaching I don’t like to think of it as labour – but emotionally toiling – 100% yes.
I don’t coach full time, and I always say that I couldn’t because I wouldn’t be able to sustain the level of emotional input without being un-genuine – and Ellie’s summary of her research perfectly sum up the reasons why.
After back-to-back camps, or a full on day of teaching after a busy week at work, I always joke that I’m tired and I don’t know my name – of course I am joking, but there is a serious undertone! I do know my name, but I am often truly exhausted, emotionally empty, it’s not uncommon for me to feel physically unwell, and it often impacts on my ‘other’ work the next few days as my concentration slips to that of a drunk sloth, my creative ability appears to have just left the building and my whole body says I need some time off!
However, the rewards of coaching are tenfold and more. Clients become friends, and I can’t explain the feeling when someone messages you a thank you, tags you in on a post, or personally confides in me – it feels like you’re a small part of the journey and you’re making a difference – it’s absolutely the most rewarding and special feeling and it is definitely worth more than feeling tired!
But here is why I’m as guilty as the next person.
I love my job, but I don’t prioritise myself, I don’t like saying no, I always try and check in with other people to make sure they are ‘OK’ and yet rarely say to anyone if I’m really tired and just need a break. I am terrible at the illusive work life balance, a day off is like unicorn dust – and my life is a full on journey!
I’m a naturally high energy person, and I like to be busy. I love doing things, I love saying yes and one of my favourite, if rather untasteful sayings, used to be ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’ (obviously no offence meant to anyone at all) – but as I unwillingly grow up, the years of burning the candle is catching up with me.
I’ve read the research, I understand the signs, and I now begrudgingly recognise that I often teeter of the edge of burnout, but it’s tricky and here is why… because everyone wants something, everyone needs something – they know you’re tired – you know they are tired – even when I’ve expressed ‘ I think I’m heading close to burnout’ people still want something and the ‘can you just…’ of life kicks in because we all have things to do, and we all want things doing.
So for me I feel there is little point in saying that I’m beyond tired, because it actually makes no difference to how others respond – and I wonder if other people dealing with different well-being challenges feel the same? (Please be assured that I am talking about well-being and not clinically diagnosed mental health challenges).
How can we be better at responding to situations like this?
Instead I recognise the important of understanding the causes, prioritising my sleep at busy times, avoiding alcohol as it weakens my immune system (not that I drink much anyway), trying to be realistic with commitments and my time (I’m work in progress), and working on saying no when I know that I simply can’t!
But are we personally taking enough responsibility for our own mental health and well-being, recognising the signs in both ourselves, and each other and acting accordingly to prioritise ourselves and put our own boundaries and support systems in place?
I know I for one could do better!
Liz x
