Sports Bras for Horse Riding: What New Research Found

The bra a woman rides in can change how she sits on a horse, according to a study published in September in the International Journal of Equine Science.

Researchers from three UK institutions measured breast movement, breast pain and rider position while women rode a simulator. Their paper is titled "The Biomechanical and Perceptual Impact of Breast Support during Riding and Running in Female Equestrians." Here we take a look at that study and sports bras for horse riding.

The project was led by Lorna Cameron, a senior lecturer at Hartpury University in Gloucestershire. Her co-authors came from Hartpury, University Centre Sparsholt and the Research Group in Breast Health at the University of Portsmouth.

"Female equestrian health has historically been an under-researched area despite women making up the majority of riders," Cameron said when the team presented the work in July.

How the study worked

Twenty-one women took part. Each rode an equine simulator at walk, trot and canter, then ran on a treadmill. Both activities were repeated in four conditions: an everyday bra, an encapsulation sports bra, a combination sports bra and no bra at all. An encapsulation bra holds each breast in its own cup. A combination bra adds compression on top of separate cups.

The researchers tracked breast movement in three dimensions. They also recorded the riders' torso angle and the left-to-right symmetry of their elbows and knees. Riders rated their own comfort and any breast pain during exercise.

Running on a treadmill gives coaches and bra designers a useful comparison. Most sports bras are developed and tested on runners. Riding puts a different load on the body, and this study is thought to be the first to measure breast movement in the saddle and compare it with running in the same women.

What the researchers found with sports bras for horse riding

Running without a bra produced the most breast movement and the most pain. In both activities, more movement went hand in hand with more pain.

At trot, both sports bras reduced breast movement and pain compared with an everyday bra or no bra. They also changed how the women rode. In a sports bra, riders held their torso closer to vertical at trot. The encapsulation style produced the most symmetrical riders, with the smallest difference between the left and right sides at the elbow and knee.

Symmetry and an upright upper body are basic goals in almost every riding discipline. Uneven weight and a tipped torso can affect the signals a horse receives through the seat and reins. The study did not measure the horse's response, but it suggests a rider's support garment may play a part in her position.

Comfort was more personal. The women's preferences varied, and the bra that worked best for one rider did not suit everyone. The researchers also concluded that sports bras designed mainly from running data may not meet every rider's needs.

A gap in the research

Studies of riders have rarely looked at the female body on its own terms, and breast support had not been measured in the saddle before.

The team described the work as a step towards evidence-based guidance for female riders. In Cameron's words, the goal is to give women access to advice "that supports both comfort and performance." The presentation won the Outstanding Oral Presentation Award at the Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network conference at Loughborough University in July 2026.

The study has limits. Twenty-one riders is a small group, and a simulator is not a live horse.

Cameron called the work "an important step towards improving our understanding of breast support requirements" for women in the saddle. The next step is larger and longer-term studies carried out in real riding conditions.