Horsetalk.co.nz Are you brave in the saddle? If not, you risk being belittled and excluded, study finds Horse riders in a study who voiced their fears arising from confidence issues ran the risk of being belittled and excluded, a researcher has found. Rosalie Jones McVey, who followed the travails of a group of riders and the professionals who supported them for 14 months, provided a worrying assessment of what she termed the British equestrian cultural orientation towards bravery. Her work lays open the equestrian culture in Britain, warts and all, revealing how readily negative moral judgments can be placed on fearful riders.