Emotions have no gender..... Don't lock yours in the dark

Around 40% of men will not seek support or talk about their mental health, the main reason, in short, being that they are embarrassed to do so, and so much stigma still surrounds men being open about their feelings. Sadly the days of "man up" and societal expectations and traditional gender roles play a role in why men are less likely to discuss or seek help for their mental health problems.

#GoRacingGreen has been going for two years, running stable visits, race day meet ups and offering online support, but it has become very apparent that men rarely engage in stable visits or contact us for online support. Whilst some come along to race day meet-ups, in general they will come and say hello and then go and do their own thing, whereas the women stay together in a group for the majority of the day.

There could be several reasons for this, including what has already been mentioned above, or it could just be that they want to chat man to man. To date, I have been the only person attending the meet ups, visits and offering the online support. 

Stable Mates is part of #GoRacingGreen, but focuses on men's mental health.

It will offer men only stable visits, a male Ambassador available at race day meet-ups and a lead male Ambassador should you want a man to man chat. It's a kind of Men's Shed but within horseracing, in the hope that more men will engage and talk about their mental health.