What is it and how can it help horses and riders? Riders train horses to act in ways they deem positive, whether it’s jumping a jump, walking down a trail, or performing movements in an arena. But to train horses effectively and safely, riders, trainers, and coaches must understand how they learn and react. Over the past 15 years, equine scientists have researched the learning theory of horses — how horses process, retain knowledge, and learn. Equitation science applies this evidence-based learning theory of horses to horse training, and explains horse behaviour based on horses being horses – without attributing human emotions, ways of thinking, or behaviour, to them. It’s a burgeoning field that is changing the way many riders and trainers think and act.

The performance of female jockeys is equal that of their male counterparts, suggests a study carried out at the University of Liverpool Management School. Using detailed analysis techniques on data from British Thoroughbred racing, the study suggests that, once the quality of the horses they are riding is factored in, the performance of female jockeys is essentially no better or worse than that of male jockeys.