Effect of Competition on Salivary Cortisol Concentration of Western Performance Horses and Riders
Abstract
Competition stress is a common factor in success of performing athletes. It is assumed that riders and horses both experience stress while competing in an event. However, few studies have measured the physiological responses to identify causes of stress in performing horses and riders. The few studies of competition stress, measured by increases in cortisol, have focused on English disciplines and racehorses. In this study, fifteen horse and rider pairs competing in western stock horse events were evaluated.
Salivary cortisol was collected in both horses and riders at rest, during practice, and over the course of four stock horse classes in a Stock Horse of Texas sanctioned event. Riders completed an additional test of a maximal exercise bout. Saliva samples were taken 20 minutes pre-test and 20 minutes post-test. Rider salivary cortisol concentration (SCC) was significantly higher than resting SCC in pleasure (p=0.023), cow work (p<0.001), reining (p=0.017), and maximal exercise tests (p=0.018). Horse SCC was higher than resting SCC in cow work only (p=0.016). Riders were also separated into novice (NOV) and non-pro (NP) groups to determine effect of rider level on SCC. Novice riders had a higher SCC (10.26+4.73) than non-pro riders (8.92+3.74) in the cow work. Horse SCC was not affected by rider SCC. Increased rider SCC had a negative impact on overall placing and scores in the reining class (p=0.044, r^2=0.239) and prior to the start of competition (p=0.016, r^2=0.397). Horse SCC before reining also had a negative impact on score (p=0.034, r^2=0.348). Competition stress was determined to be largely based on SCC of riders, which negatively impacted performance.
Subject
performance horsecortisol
competition stress
riders
western performance horse
quarter horse
stock horse
salivary cortisol
Citation
Pennington, Morgan Victoria (2022). Effect of Competition on Salivary Cortisol Concentration of Western Performance Horses and Riders. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /198792.