By Equestrian Life

Have you experienced bullying while taking part in an equestrian sport? If so, you’re not alone. The campaign, “Stop Bullying in Equestrian Sports”, was set up by Hannah Brooks after she was subject to bullying while working as a volunteer here in Australia.

“Even as an adult, this repeated bullying had an enormous impact on my wellbeing. I wanted to take this negative experience and turn it into a positive one, using the power of our community to change this culture of bullying.??I started this initiative to turn myself from a victim into an advocate. I want to raise awareness of the impact of bullying and to garner support for stamping out bullying in equestrian sports,” explains Hannah on the campaign’s Facebook page.

In a video published on the page, Hannah explains that she hopes the campaign will help us “all take personal responsibility for putting an end to bullying in our sport.”

The campaign asks riders to pledge their support by messaging a photo of themselves with their horse to the Facebook page. “We will post your pledge to the page and together we can put an end to bullying in equestrian sports,” writes Hannah.

Countless equestrian fans have pledged their support, including big name riders such as Megan Jones, Lyndal Oatley and Simone Pearce.

Lyndal Oatley's pledge.

© Stop Bullying in Equestrian Sports Facebook page

The campaign is also collecting data via a survey to gain a better picture of the issue; so far, responses to the survey show that bullying in the sport “appears to be endemic”. Hannah explains in an online video that she hopes to use this data to put a submission to the governing bodies and get them to take the issue of bullying in the sport more seriously.

Take the survey and send through your pledge today, and if you’re posting photos of yourself with your horse on Facebook you can use the hashtag #enjoytheride to show your support!

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