Equestrian activities

The image shows a horse.

Equestrian activities include dressage, show jumping, steeplechase, cross-country eventing, endurance riding, polo, polocrosse, horse racing, hurdle racing, rodeo, trail or general horseback riding, trotting, and harness.

An estimated 132,600 Australians aged 15 and over participated in equestrian activities in 2024–25 (ASC 2025). During this same period, there were nearly 2,100 injury hospitalisations were attributed to equestrian activities: around 1,600 females and 480 males. The highest number of injury hospitalisations was among those aged 15–19 (285 cases), while the 0–4 age group had the lowest number of hospitalisations (4 cases) (Figure 18).

Figure 18: Number of injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities by 5-year age group, Australia, 2024–25

Column chart shows younger age groups between 10 and 24 years had the highest concentration of hospitalisations in 2024–25.


Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detail, data table 5.

Trends over the past decade

From 2017–18 to 2024–25, the number of hospitalisations ranged from 1,600 to 2,100 for females and 465 to 660 for males (see Figure 19). Between 2017–18 to 2018–19, injury hospitalisation rates were relatively stable for both sexes.

Figure 19: Number and age-standardised rate (per 100,000 population) of injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities by sex, Australia, 2015–16 to 2024–25

Line graph shows trends for males, females and persons with a dashed vertical line separating years 2016–17 and 2017–18 to indicate a break in time series, described in technical notes.

Line graph shows trends for males, females and persons with a dashed vertical line separating years 2016–17 and 2017–18 to indicate a break in time series, described in technical notes.

For more detail, see data table 6.

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 2021–22 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 2024–25, 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 3.5 hospitalisations per 100,000 population.

Equestrian activities categories

In 2024–25:

  • Over three quarters of equestrian activities injury hospitalisations were from trail or general horseback riding (Figure 20), with a rate of 10 hospitalisation per 100,000 for females (1,400 hospitalisations) and 2.0 per 100,000 for males (275 hospitalisations)
  • Rodeo injury hospitalisations accounted for 7.2% of total equestrian activities categories with 150 hospitalisations (0.6 per 100,000 population)
  • Hurdle racing had the fewest injury hospitalisations with 1 hospitalisation (0.0 per 100,000 population).

Figure 20: Injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities by category, Australia, 2024–25

Bar chart shows proportion of sports injury hospitalisations in 2024–25 for each equestrian activities category.


Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detail, see data table 5.

Nature of injuries

For injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities in 2024–25, the top three most injured body parts across all ages were:

  • trunk (750 cases)
  • shoulder and upper limb, excluding hand and wrist (440 cases)
  • head and neck (430 cases) (Figure 21).

Figure 21: Common injuries and causes of sports injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities, Australia, 2024–25

Diagram of human body shows percentage of body parts injured in hospitalisations in 2024–25, including injury types and causes.

Diagram of human body shows percentage of body parts injured in hospitalisations in 2024–25, including injury types and causes.

Source: AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database.

For more detail, see data table 13.

Fractures accounted for more than half of all injury hospitalisations (or 1,200 cases), followed by intracranial injuries (9.7% of injury hospitalisations or 200 cases) and superficial injuries (6.2% injury hospitalisations or 130 cases). About 83% of these intracranial injury hospitalisations were concussions: 29 males and 140 females.

The top three common causes of injury hospitalisations from equestrian activities in 2024–25 were:

  • transport (1,800 cases or 607 hospitalisations per 100,000 population)
  • contact with living things (e.g. a horse) (155 cases or 0.6 hospitalisations per 100,000 population)
  • contact with objects (e.g. caught, crushed, jammed or pinched in or between objects) (40 cases or 0.1 hospitalisations per 100,000 population).
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