Sports injury in Australia

Equestrian activities include equestrian events, polo, pony club, rodeo, trail or general horse riding, and horse racing (see technical notes for an inclusive list).

An estimated 134,100 Australians aged 15 and over participated in equestrian activities in 2023–24 (ASC 2024). During this same period, there were nearly 2,100 injury hospitalisations attributed to equestrian activities: around 1,600 females and 470 males. The highest number of injury hospitalisations was among those aged 15–19 (275 cases), while the 0–4 age group had the lowest number of hospitalisations (8 cases) (Figure 17).

For more detail, data table 4.

Trends over the past decade

Between 2014–15 and 2016–17, the age-standardised rate of injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities was relatively stable for both sexes, at an average of 16 hospitalisations per 100,000 population for females and 5.5 hospitalisations per 100,000 population for males (Figure 18). During this same period, the number of hospitalisations ranged from 1,800 to 1,900 for females and 640 to 680 for males.

Figure 18: Number and age-standardised rate (per 100,000 population) of injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities by sex, Australia, 2014–15 to 2023–24

For more detail, see data table 5.

From 2017–18 to 2023–24, the number of hospitalisations ranged from 1,600 to 2,100 for females and 465 to 660 for males. Between 2017–18 to 2018–19, injury hospitalisation rates were relatively stable for both sexes.

From 2019–20 to 2021–22, there was a spike in injury hospitalisations for females – a likely effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitalisation rates were highest for females in 2020–21 at 17 hospitalisations per 100,000 population. During this period, hospitalisation rates for males averaged 4.1 hospitalisations per 100,000 population.

Across 2022–23 and 2023–24, injury hospitalisation rates appeared to have stabilised for females (13 hospitalisations per 100,000 population), while for males the rate declined to an average of 3.6 hospitalisations per 100,000 population.

Nature of injuries

For injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities in 2023–24, the top 3 most injured body parts across all ages were:

• trunk (32% of injury hospitalisations or 670 cases)
• head and neck (25% of injury hospitalisations or 510 cases)
• shoulder and upper limb, excluding hand and wrist (22% of injury hospitalisations or 455 cases) (Figure 19).

Figure 19: Common injuries and causes of sports injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities, Australia, 2023–24

For more detail, see data table 12.

Fractures accounted for more than half of all injury hospitalisations (or 1,100 cases), followed by intracranial injuries (12% of injury hospitalisations or 245 cases) and superficial injuries (6.7% injury hospitalisations or 140 cases). About 81% of these intracranial injury hospitalisations were concussions: 35 males and 165 females.

The top 3 common causes of injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities in 2023–24 were:

• transport (88% of injury hospitalisations or 1,800 cases)
• contact with living things (7.7% of injury hospitalisations or 160 cases)
• contact with objects (1.5% of injury hospitalisations or 30 cases).