A study on male riders’ groin and seat comfort – or discomfort – could be a step towards improving the situation and helping remove barriers to participation.
The research is being conducted by a team at Hartpury University, as a follow-up to a study that looked at bra fit, design, and size of the breasts, and other barriers to female riding.
“On the back of that, we had calls from some of our male students saying ‘Where’s our research, on our barriers and pain issues?’” Victoria Lewis, senior lecturer in equine science at Hartpury, told H&H.
“Two of our male undergraduates helped create this survey, looking at two areas; pain in the saddle, focusing on the groin-seat area, and looking at the prevalence of pain, and what activities may be increasing that or discomfort while riding.”
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Ms Lewis stated that the research will examine whether men have been put off by pain or discomfort, as well as types of underwear.
“As riders we don’t talk about this so we’ve got no idea of the potential scale of the problem, or maybe what people are doing to mitigate, and make riding more comfortable,” she said.
The initial responses to the questionnaire suggest…
