Monitoring the stress is done by means of the salivary cortisol taken from the horses and the riders during a show-jumping competition involving twenty riders, twenty-three horses making up a total of twenty-six rounds of the course. The samples are taken at nine am in the morning, at rest, just before entry to the course, and finally, at twenty-minute, forty-minute and sixty-minute intervals. The conclusions are unequivocal: Firstly, while the level of salivary cortisol increases significantly in the horse and the rider at the moment before entry to the course, it increases3.3 times more in the case of the rider (against 2.0 times more in the case of the horse).


With regard to the results obtained in competition: “The best performances were obtained by horses whose increases in salivary cortisol were lowest. The opposite was observed in the horses.” The horses, suggests the researcher, remained in a state of stimulating positive stress, while the competition caused a harmful stress with a negative impact on the riders. These conclusions should not be a matter of indifference to the equestrian group involved in competitions where the financial stakes are often high. “We show that, at least during the competition monitored during our study that the horses remain within the limits of a positive stress, known as ‘eustress’, while the riders tend, on the other hand, to fall into ‘distress’, which is a harmful anxiety in terms of the performances”. These results are interesting but have yet to be completed by other studies. “Study of the temperament of the horse and the personality of the rider is also very interesting and may allow us to better understand the variations in the stress levels experienced by the horse/rider couple during competition as well as its impact on the performances achieved”, adds Marie Peeters, who is ready to develop new projects in this area.