Body protectors and hats !!

[Jasper65]

Hi everyone !

i just wanted to post about my friend who came off her horse on saturday night and very nearly died.

She has a bomb proof tb gelding who doesnt spook at anything from dogs at metal fencing to horses charging around in the field to cars very nearly hitting them!

They had been for a nice hack around the local village with myself and he was as good as gold and there was nothing unusual happen at all just a nice steady plod.

We got back and we put up a small jump that must have been no higher than a foot off the floor. Now both horse and rider had jumped together before but for some reason the horse spooked at a still unknown cause about 10 meters from the pole.

He reared up and when he came down he bucked at the same time. this had such a force behind it that my friend flew through the air at least the 10meters to be level with the pole.

She landed on her head...

she had her body protector on and her helmet luckily...these saved her life...

I phoned for an ambulance who once they arrived immediately sent for the air ambulance over fears she had broken her neck...

She came off at 7.25pm and was released later on at 11.30pm with mild concussion and bruising.

I was told by the paramedics that if she had only had her hat on she would have died in this freak accident. They also said that the hat she was wearing saved her neck from breaking. It was the just togs junior showjumper and those that have it will know that it comes quite a way down the back of your head.

Both horse and rider are now fine, and but she will not be riding again for three weeks due to doctors orders.

I would just like to urge all those riders out there that havent had their hats checked in a while, those that dont have body protectors and those that "think its cool" to ride without a hat to go and get these very important peices of equipment and to use them everytime they ride their horse. No matter how bomb proof you think your horse is all it takes is one little accident...

thanks for reading lots of hot choccie and biscuits if you read all this !!

 

[dwi]

Thank you for sharing the story, I'm glad to hear that your friend is going to be okay.

I had a very nasty fall myself on Sunday and the dent in my hat shows what would have happened to my head if I hadn't been wearing it.

 

[Katie]

i always have to wear my hat. i'm also made to wear a body protector riding certain horses jumping, which is fair enough i guess. a body protector is never claimed to save your life though.

 

[Jasper65]

well it did my friend, if she hadnt had it on she would have broken her neck because of the way she fell. ive never really liked body protectors as ive often thought they restrict movement of the back... but having witnessed this fall im going tomorrow to go and buy one im also buying a new hat as mine is a few years old and doesnt really come that far down the back of my head...

 

[Katie]

hmm maybe it helps prevent bad injuries sometimes then? i always wear mine riding a horse known to be excitable (ie bucking, etc) or a massive one my hat needs replacing, i keep asking my mum to get a nice new one.

 

[BobbyMondeo]

After an accident last year where i could have died without my hat i would NEVER ever ride without a hat now.

My horse reared and i fell off backwards onto concrete hitting my head on the corner of a stone step. I got a hole in my hat that you can (just) see daylight through.....it could have been my head!! Also i would have broken my back without my body protector so they really did save my life. I cringe when i see people riding without a hat and jumping with no body protector

 

[fitzaud2]

Wow, I never wear a back protector, always wear my hat though!! I make my children wear a back protector. Might actually take my own adviice and buy myself one, I dont bounce like I used to, and my back is bad enough. glad your friend is okay, could have been such an awful outcome!!

 

[Wobblywibble]

I'm sorry for your friend and also sorry to be cynical, but exactly how did the paramedics say that the body protector had saved her life? How did they know what injuries she would have suffered without it? In he absence of body scans etc??

And how did a hat save her neck from breaking?

Am intruiged and curious -my best friend suffered a head injury whilst cantering sedately on a hack a couple of years ago (with a hat on). Horse appeared to trip over its own feet. Rapid response paramedic, followed by ambulance then air ambulanceall attended and took her to hospital. Not one of them suggested what her injuries would have been like if she hadn't had a hat on, because at that time they didn't really know what they were, plus they were too busy making sure she was breathing. Which she wasn't when she first fell off, face down on the forest floor.

Paramedics are brilliant and have my greatest respect but IMHO they don't make speculations or predictions.

 

[Blaise]

Glad to hear your friend is doing ok after her accident.

I can regularly be heard shouting at friends on my yard for riding without hats on. I try & keep out of other peoples business as much as possible but thats the one thing i'll always comment on. I am guilty of not wearing a body protector as much as i should for everyday riding but always do if going XC or jumping young/inexperienced horses. I will NEVER go without a hat though, not even for a second. My hat saved my life almost 2 years ago to the day. Had a freak fall off my TB mare, she spooked whilst i was mounting, shot to one side and i was thrown over her shoulder landing almost vertically, head first onto the concrete yard. The specialist at the hospital thought id broke my neck and i was sent for x-ray after x-ray and kept strapped to a spinal board for about 30 hours until they'd decided 100% that i hadnt. In the end they decided i'd snapped tendons & ligaments in my neck and not broken anything so i was lucky, it still stopped me from doing anything for a long time though and took what seemed like forever to heal. The dr did say if i'd not have been wearing my hat at the time though i would have been killed.

I cant help but cringe when i see famous or high profile riders riding without a hat. I know they often know their horses inside out and are excellent riders but freak accidents can and do happen to all of us. It's just not worth the risk.

 

[mahorse]

Just wanted to add I ALWAYS wear a hat, but the only time I have worn a body protector I broke the top of my arm (shoulder) in 4 pieces...... I know they prevent many injuries but I really believe they contributed to mine.... I have fallen off many times, but on the occasion of the break I believe the b. protector stopped my body falling how it naturally would have.... Not wanting to provoke argument, but there is always another side.
To the OP, I'm glad your friend is ok )