Salivary cortisol concentration in western performance horses and riders: Associations with performance.

Overview

• This study measured stress levels through salivary cortisol concentrations (SCC) in western performance horses and their riders during competition.
• It explored how SCC related to performance outcomes in various western stock horse events, revealing that higher rider stress before competition may negatively affect performance.

Background

• Competition stress influences athletes’ performance, but physiological stress in equestrian pairs (horses and riders) is less studied.
• This research aimed to quantify stress responses using salivary cortisol, a commonly used biomarker of physiological stress.
• Western stock horse events include multiple classes such as pleasure, trail, reining, and working cow horse, which vary in physical and mental demands.

Subjects and Methods

• Participants:
  • 15 pairs of horses and riders.
  • Horses were Quarter horses, ages 3 to 15 years.
  • Riders were humans aged 18 to 22 years old.
• Sampling:
  • Salivary samples collected from both horses and riders at multiple time points:
    • At rest (baseline)
    • During practice sessions
    • During four competitive western stock horse classes: pleasure, trail, reining, and working cow horse
    • For riders only, samples taken during a maximal exercise test
  • Samples were taken 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after the respective tests or events to capture cortisol responses.
• Measurement and Analysis:
  • Salivary cortisol concentration (SCC) was measured in nmol/L.
  • Statistical comparisons made to identify differences between types of classes, horse vs rider SCC, and performance results.
  • Correlations investigated between pre-competition SCC and performance outcomes.

Key Findings

• Rider cortisol variations:
  • Rider SCC was lower after the pleasure class (mean ~6.42 nmol/L) compared to higher-demand events such as reining (~13.53 nmol/L), cow work (~12.85 nmol/L), and maximal exercise (~10.05 nmol/L).
  • Novice riders showed greater SCC (~10.26 nmol/L) than non-professionals (~8.92 nmol/L) after the working cow horse class, suggesting that experience level affects stress response.
• Horse cortisol:
  • No significant changes in horse SCC across the different competition events were observed.
  • This suggests that horse physiological stress measured via SCC was relatively stable regardless of event type.
• Relationship between cortisol and performance:
  • Higher rider pre-competition SCC was inversely correlated with overall competition placing (p = 0.016, r=0.397), meaning more stressed riders tended to perform worse.
  • Similarly, rider pre-competition SCC negatively correlated with scores specifically in the reining class (p = 0.044, r=0.239).
  • Higher horse SCC before reining was also associated with lower scores (p = 0.034, r=0.348), indicating some influence of horse stress on performance in this event.

Conclusions and Implications

• Rider stress, as indicated by salivary cortisol, increases in more demanding classes and is affected by rider experience level.
• Elevated rider cortisol before competition predicts poorer performance, emphasizing the negative impact of competition-related stress.
• Horse stress measured via SCC was generally stable but also related to performance in at least one event type (reining).
• This study highlights the importance of managing stress in riders to optimize performance in western stock horse competitions.
• Further research may explore interventions to reduce rider stress or training methods to build stress resilience for competitive success.