Pre-competition anxiety and cardiac autonomic responses in beginnerand skilled equestrian athletes

Background : Equestrian competition imposes substantial psychological and physiological demands on riders, yet field-based psychophysiological investigations in this sport remain limited. This study examined whether beginner and skilled riders differ in cardiac autonomic responses during an actual show-jumping competition and whether pre-competition anxiety is associated with these responses. Methods : Forty show jumping riders (20 Beginner, 20 Skilled) wore a validated photoplethysmograph (Polar Verity Sense; 135 Hz) and completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) prior to competition. Pre-competition anxiety was assessed using the single POMS item Anxious (rated on a 1–5 scale). After artifact rejection procedures, the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD, in ms) and mean heart rate (HR, bpm) were computed. Group comparisons, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), moderation regression, and correlational analyses were conducted to examine associations among pre-competition anxiety, mood states, and autonomic indices. Results : Beginners exhibited significantly higher mean HR (119.9 vs 103.8 bpm, p < 0.001) and lower RMSSD (27.8 vs 45.9 ms, p < 0.001) than skilled riders. Pre-competition anxiety was not significantly associated with HRV indices, and the Anxiety × Skill Level interaction predicting mean HR was not significant (β = –2.05, p = 0.458). Analyses controlling for age and sex yielded consistent results. Conclusions : In ecological equestrian competition settings, beginner riders displayed systematically different autonomic profiles compared with skilled riders, characterized by higher heart rate and lower RMSSD values. Pre-competition anxiety, assessed via a single POMS item, was not significantly associated with autonomic markers in this sample. These findings provide field-based evidence that rider skill level is associated with differences in cardiac autonomic responses during competitive performance.