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Interesting article. What are your thoughts/views on this?
Good that Kevin Tobin is talking openly about it
Every walk of life has mental health issues and no one is immune from it in one way or another
I don’t know what the stats are but I do think horse racing is high risk in regard to mental health and does lend itself to potential self destruction.
The jockeys for a start don’t eat properly as they have to do the weight to ride the horse, if you’re not eating proper you are starving your brain of oxygen. Then you have the pressure of needing to ride winners or get the riding fees to get paid. I’d imagine some are on lower than minimum wage a lot of the time.
Stable staff put in long hours for low pay, I’m sure its very rewarding working with the horses but also hard work and tiredness is something else that will affect the brain. Then their is the gambling side of it, many must be addicts and quite likely doing their nuts each week.
What can be done about it.? Maybe something similar or to be a part of the injured jockeys fund could be set up with help to those struggling with mental health issues. Unfortunately those with problems tend to keep it locked up inside unto it comes to a head but at least if they had somewhere to turn to and know some thing is there to support them they can seek help quicker.
There was an idea floating around about better jockey fees especially for those at the lower end of the scale but I think a few trainers said that it would mean them using them less so its a double edged sword…
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Having the right support mechanisms in place is vital – great work and progress being made in that regard I think.
Changing the culture of the sport is important too. Why we can’t increase the racing weight on the flat is beyond me. Could be done overnight and would make a real difference to some jockeys.
People talk constantly about it being a ‘tough game’, etc, as if it gave the sport some kind of badge of honour. Let’s identify the tough aspects (long hours, poor working conditions, poor support, etc, I guess would head the list) and do something about them.
Maybe a ‘racing industry employer ethical integrity’ body who visited yards (in the same way they do for auditing training facilities to ensure safety, etc) and interviewed staff (including leavers) and reviewed working hours, HR procedures, etc.
If your license depended on complying with specific requirements which were audited you’d take care. Perhaps something similar exists already but is it working?David
Increasing the racing weight seems an obvious strategy, and would alleviate some of the pressure on jockeys
I imagine like all business there will be yards struggling just , more than empty boxes , having to cut staff , I’m sure there already some small yards really struggling , this can’t help with mental health
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If I was in the public eye, the last thing I would do is look at message boards or social media. Or even media in general, which would be tough. I’d try and mix with like minded souls.
My confidence is very fragile just as a nobody. I can understand the perils of getting criticised by all and sundry for trying your best.
It would make me poorly in a heartbeat tbh.
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