Salivary Cortisol Levels in Horses and their Riders During Three-Day-Events

The group of 36 warm-blooded half-bred horses (18 stallions and 18 mares) and their riders (20 men and 16 women), who ended three-day-events, were selected for the study. The horses were aged 4 to 6 years, while the riders were 19 to 34-year-old. The saliva samples were collected after each phase of the competitions. The cortisol concentration was determined using an immunoassay method. The following factors were considered: type of competition, horse sex, and rider gender. In horses, the statistically important correlation was found between the results obtained for the dressage and cross-country, for the cross-country and show jumping, and for the dressage and show jumping. An analogous comparison for the riders suggests a statistically significant correlation between the data obtained for the cross-country and show jumping. Comparing the data of horses and their riders, a significant correlation coefficient was found for the cross-country group of woman and the dressage group of men. In conclusion, the salivary cortisol level in individual horses in each phase of three-day-event was found to be repetitive. Therefore, the salivary cortisol test is demonstrated to be a useful method to evaluate the horse response to each type of competition during three-day-events.