Equestrian activities

An estimated 237,000 Australians aged 15 and over participated in equestrian activity in 2020–21 (ASC, 2021).  Around 2,600 injury hospitalisations were attributed to equestrian activities – 2,100 female and 500 male. This was a similar number to the previous year. For those aged 15 and over, the rate of hospitalisation was about 917 per 100,000 participants.

The age-standardised rate of injury hospitalisations for males fell 26% between 2017–18 and 2020–21, while for females it rose by 12% (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Trend in injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities, by sex, 2011–12 to 2020–21

Visualisation not available for printing

For more detail, see data tables B3–4.

The highest number of hospitalisations was in the 15–19 age group (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Age distribution of injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities, 2020–21

Column graph showing the age distribution of injury hospitalisations.

Source: AIHW NHMD.

For more detail, see data table A14.

About half of these hospitalisations were fractures (53%) (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities, by type of injury as a proportion, 2020–21

Bar graph showing the proportion of injury hospitalisations by main type of injury.

Note: Type of injury is derived from the principal diagnosis.
Source: AIHW NHMD.

For more detail, see data table A25.

There were 211 hospitalisations for concussion—184 female and 27 male.

The main injury was to the trunk of the body in a third of cases (34%), and the head and neck in almost a quarter of cases (22%) (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities, by body part injured, as a proportion, 2020–21

Outline of a person with body regions labelled, marked with the percentage of hospitalised injuries for each region.

'Notes
1. Body part injured is derived from the principal diagnosis.
2. ‘Trunk’ includes thorax, abdomen, lower back, lumbar spine & pelvis.

Source: AIHW NHMD.

For more detail, see data table A26.

Perhaps unremarkably, about 9 in 10 of these hospitalisations were reported to have been caused directly by an accident with a horse, such as a fall from a horse (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Cause of injury as a proportion when specified, hospitalisations from equestrian activities, 2020–21

Bar graph showing the proportion of hospitalisations by cause of injury when specified.

Source: AIHW NHMD.

For more detail, see data table A27.

Seasonal differences

Four years of date of admissions data suggests that equestrian activities are less seasonal than many other sports (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities by month of admission, 2017–18 to 2020–21

Line graph with 4 lines for 4 financial years of hospitalisations by month of admission.

For more detail, see data table B3.