In talking to 84 jockeys in Ireland, he said, he found 61% met the threshold for adverse alcohol use, 35% for depression and 27% for anxiety. Lewis King, now at Ireland’s Technological University of the Shannon, did his doctoral degree in 2021 on the subject because he wanted to explore what makes jockeys susceptible to mental health problems and what stopped them from seeking help. “Being a jockey, you have a risk of serious injuries, and if you’ve had a serious injury the fear of re-injury when you engage or get back up on the horse again may impact your performance or lead you to some kind of distress.”ĭr. “Maintaining a low weight and obviously disordered eating is a big part of it,” said Losty, who co-authored a 2018 study on jockey mental health. She said jockeys can also be less familiar with mental health topics because of low literacy levels and lack the support system of a coach or coaching staff. Ciara Losty of South East Technological University in Waterford, Ireland, pointed out that jockeys have an “underdeveloped sense of self inside of their sport,” compared to team sport or Olympic athletes who are less likely to burn out because they seek out other activities. They just listen, but they don’t really want to talk about.”ĭr. “I approached many jockeys that I feel like they need help, and many times I said, ‘Go for help.’ I motivate them to go for help. “In 30 years of riding horses, I can say to you that I never heard anybody talk about the emotional pain, never talked about going for help,” said da Silva, who’s now a mental health coach and spoke Tuesday at the first jockey mental health symposium in Lexington, Kentucky. Now 47, da Silva was named Canada’s best jockey seven times and is the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. McCarthy did so for months, learning how to find a better work-life balance that has helped him win 28 races already this year. His wife made him promise to talk to a sports therapist. And I think a lot of guys get caught up in that with the weight and the mind game of not doing good or thinking they’re not good enough.” “You’re constantly going through mind games. “I was going absolutely nuts, and my body couldn’t handle it,” McCarthy said. They are all used to the ups and downs of the job, from the broken pelvis and collarbone from his spill during a race in November to the uncertain hold on a ride.Ī particularly rough summer, including flying up and down the East Coast to ride, took a toll on McCarthy, who at 118 pounds could feel his diet and lack of calories affect his work. His father was a jockey, as is his father-in-law and his wife, Katie Davis McCarthy. McCarthy last year, like da Silva before him, sought help before it was too late. Look, there’s proof of it, right? We lost two guys.” With the mental and physical state, when you mix both of them together, it can be a recipe for disaster. “We take a lot of beatings mentally and physically. “This needs to be addressed,” jockey Trevor McCarthy said. While jockeys interviewed for this story worry that racing has lagged behind other sports in accepting the importance of their mental health on the job, there is hope that renewed conversation about it prompts real change. Combine that with criticism from owners, trainers and bettors and the need to maintain the low weight necessary to establish a career, and jockeys have been quietly suffering for as long as they have been riding horses. The dangers of riding thoroughbreds at high speed add up to an average of two jockeys dying from racing each year and 60 being paralyzed, according to one industry veteran, citing data dating to 1940. “This is not all of a sudden just happening. “I know several riders that I knew very well committed suicide when it was all said and done,” Smith said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |