Stirrups - width requirement and safe stitching on leathers & points

Helmets - replaced every year - strap correctly fitted

Back protectors, overgirth (surcingle) & breastplates are now becoming mandatory for jumping

Saddle & girth comfort - horses can rear, bolt or kick due to pain

Saddle cloths can injure a horse's withers quite severely...enough to make a frisky horse dangerous.

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.

Legal and illegal bits. 

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)".

Never riding alone, coaches should have a mobile phone on course (not in the clubhouse) to save those important seconds.

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.

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. 

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[11]

Most accidents are on the ground...what training and precautions do you have in place.

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!

Riders riding BEFORE gear & safety check & gear check after lunch

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".

Consider the age (and or height/weight) of children lunging horses

If riders are 3 times more at risk of injury than motorcycle racers, and six times more at risk than race car drivers[10] - and helmets are mandatory in those sports, then why are some horse sports still not making helmets mandatory.

Wet grounds, cancellation and the “political strength” of sponsors!

Develop a Barn Safety List and have it clearly visible on the walls.

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!