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With 700 brain injuries in Australia
Every Year,
it's time to ask the question...
Is
the cost getting too high?
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the most
dangerous
sport* on earth is
horse riding
“the most frequent cause of multiple
injuries in sport OF ANY DESCRIPTION is horse riding” |
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Before you even go near a horse, I would like you to
consider the impact a head injury would have - not necessarily on YOU...but
on your family.
When a child is injured, or killed, it is a terrible tragedy
(and I’m speaking from personal experience), however, when the
bread winner of the family is killed (or perhaps worse suffers one of the
700 brain injuries in Australia each year)– it’s even worse.
Yes...700 brain
injuries
and 20 horse related deaths[2]
occur in my own country, Australia, every year. Riders are 3 times more at
risk of injury than motorcycle racers, and six times more at risk than race car
drivers
- and they're surrounded by
roll-bars and metal!
The statistics in
the USA are simply frightening:
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one in five horse-related injuries occur on the
ground before the horse has been mounted |
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dismounted injuries are usually more serious than
mounted injuries |
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head injuries are the most common cause for
admission to hospital |
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the most frequent cause of death is
head injury |
but the most frightening statistic of all:
“the most frequent
cause of multiple injuries
in sport
OF ANY DESCRIPTION
is horse riding”
Horse riding is rated with the most dangerous sports on earth,
But the weird part is, while pony clubs around the world make sure every child
has an approved safety helmet, and insist on a breastplate, surcingle & back
protector for jumping…adults are still riding “helmet free”.
You might think it’s a bit of bravado to ride without a helmet,
but think of the cost to your family!
The reason why it is recommended that helmets be replaced every
year, is that stress cracks appear over time (even when the helmet has not been
dropped), and the foam padding insides shrinks and becomes hard, making the
helmet looser and less protective, but one thing I have always wondered about is
air vents in helmets, and on researching this chapter, I found this – very scary
– reference:
Shell
ventilation …may…allow for solid objects entering through a
vent and contacting the head.
That’s pretty scary. OK maybe rare, but scary enough for me to
wonder why they are rated the same as those helmets who would not allow a
solid object to contact the head. How could they possibly be rated the same?
With the current
“insurance crisis” (having at one staged ceased the entire operations of every
single pony club throughout Canada),
you have a responsibility to get a copy of all of the safety and gear checking
procedures, learn them, and put them into practice every day.
As the previous Spokeswoman for the WorkCover
Authority of NSW, I saw the details of many terrible accidents, and trust me,
you don’t want yourself, or a member of your club to be a victim of lack of
knowledge, or lack of standards. Your local Equestrian Federation or Pony Club
can give you a list of approved equipment, but it is up to you to practice gear
checking & safety checking procedures every single day.
You need a list of
approved equipment from your local pony or riding club, you should have your
gear checked by a professional, and really try your very best never to ride
alone.
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 Activities
for Riders
These
are just some of the many things you need to know.
Information on all safety and gear checking is available from your local
club, or from your Equestrian Federation’s rule book, or in the texts in our
recommended reading lists:
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Stirrups - width requirement and safe stitching on leathers & points
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Helmets - replaced every year - strap
correctly fitted |
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Back
protectors, overgirth (surcingle) & breastplates are now becoming
mandatory for jumping |
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Saddle & girth comfort - horses can rear, bolt or kick due to pain
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Saddle cloths can injure a horse's withers quite severely...enough to make
a frisky horse dangerous. |
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Bandages
are normally unacceptable for jumping...and on the cross country they get
wet, so find out your local requirements for your sport, and consider
swapping to boots for jumping & performance sports.
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Legal and illegal bits. |
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RSPCA and various humane society’s regulation on the fitting of nosebands.
"one finger must be able to be easily slipped under
the noseband at the NASAL BRIDGE (at the front, not the side)".
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Never riding alone, coaches should have a mobile phone on course (not in
the clubhouse) to save those important seconds. |
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Riders warming up before gear checking means that unsafe,
illegal and dangerous equipment has not been checked prior to mounting.
And...what about gear checking at pony clubs AFTER LUNCH.
There should be a club list of exactly what is being checked,
and a record kept to fulfill insurance requirements.
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Dogs...the internet is FULL of articles on accidents with horses & dogs.
I notice that dogs have recently been completely banned from Victoria's
major equestrian facility: Werribee. |
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Some
Additional Safety Issues:
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There are about eight
car/horse related incidents on the road (UK) every day. Consider the
legal implications of an unsafe horse float leaving your venue and having an
accident on the way home...or unsafe horses ridden to or from
your show or
venue
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Most accidents are
on the ground...what training and precautions do you have in place.
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Rope burns and broken fingers are just some of my own personal
hand injuries over the years. I STILL hadn't learned my lesson in my
last incident where I got terrible rope burn trying to hang onto a horse to
prevent them going onto the road...honestly, it wasn't that long
ago...wouldn't you think I would have learned by now! Please let
my injuries be a warning to you all...it hurts! There is a RULE in
dressage that you MUST wear gloves (or be eliminated) um...now I finally
know why! |
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Some
Issues for Club Committees
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Riders riding
BEFORE gear & safety check & gear check after lunch
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Does that
teacher have qualifications...not just experience...but QUALIFICATIONS.
Is the teacher AND the grounds insured. Often greedy property owners
insure themselves, and couldn't care less about the teacher see
"ask the hard questions".
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Consider the age
(and
or height/weight) of children lunging horses |
Insurance
Issues
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Tips
for Coaches
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Develop a
Barn Safety List and have it clearly visible on the walls.
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Can the rider
stop a bolting horse, a rearing horse, a bucking horse? These are the first
things I was taught. How to stop, what to do when the horse goes up, and
what do do when the front end goes down! If, as a coach you do not have
these skills, then you’d better learn them FAST. It is too late to explain
to a coronial enquiry why you didn’t teach your riders the safety BASICS of
how to stay on! |
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