Body Protectors: Food for Thought

MrsMozart

MrsMozart

Just passing through...
Joined
27 June 2008
Messages
41,712
Location
Not where I should be...
Visit site
I was cursing mine as the only bit that hurt was the BP digging in to my lower back, but accorind to my physio, who I met yeterday, said that in reality it a) probably saved me from being paralysed, and b) if it hadn't been for the pain from that bruising, I wouldn't have had it checked out - the break itself didn't hurt.

The break was a compression fracture when I tried foolishly to land on my feet, and succeeded :(. As my back was already broken before I went flying across the surface, landing heavily along the length of my back, neck and head, withouth the BP it would not have had any protection. I would probably have been paralysed from around the waist areas (L2) down, which would have included everything from that point down.

As I said, food for thought. Each to their own and no doubt many will continue to ride without a BP, but I won't be joining them.

A Kanteq will be on order the month before I can get back on again.
 
Glad that the BP ensured things weren't so much worse than they could have been MrsM. As you say each to their own. I never ride without a BP on, but I know some people find that something to sneer at.

How are you doing at the moment? Hope the physio is helping.
 
Interesting...there are mixed views on back protectors in the horsey world and certainly a lot of problems occur if you do not have your back protector properly fitted to you as apposed to just buying one off the shelf.
I never ride without mine no matter what I am doing riding wise, but that is up to me. It is my call based on my perceived risk and having come off on the road without one on in years past, I do not fancy it again. I also have back problems so would not want to add to these if I came off without a back protector on.
I hope you make a full recovery by the way.
 
Really glad the damage was nowhere near what it could have been.

I do not ride with my BP because it stops me from sitting up straight. My shoulders hunch and I lean forwards. This makes me much less secure in the saddle.

Is this a fitting fault? Because I DID have it fitted.
 
I broke my back about 10 years ago now. I had been XC schooling my horse over some novice fences, finished and was just haveing a gallop around the edge of the field. My horse shied badlya at a part hidden 'thing' and I was thrown sideways out at speed. As i hit the ground hard i hear a crack, then smashed my head into the ground and was knocked unconscious. I came round, my frined was getting my horse and I was lying on my front on the floor. I managed to get up, throwing up several times but did it. Then i walked to the car, my vision had gone yellow, everything was just shades of yellow and I knew I had done something bad to my back as every stride hurt like hell. I was stupid I should have called the ambulance. I then managed to get in the car and my friend took me to hospital Sh had to drop me off as she had the trailer with 2 horses in it so i staggered in to the A&E still wearing my BP and hat. As I staggered in i met the receptionist who got me through to the doctor in record time. The main thing concerning them was me bing sick and yellow vision. The back they were not overly concerned about as i was walking - albeit badly but I was mobile. Then they took off my body protector and hat and discoverd my back was seriously bruised from the base to my neck. all along my spine and ribs. I had taken wings off two vertebra and my pelvis was broken. I was extremely lucky, the doctor said if I haden;t been wearing my body protector then the bruising indicated I would have been in serious trouble. I would never dream of jumping without a BP, nor would I ever get on a horse without a hat
 
Janette, I am afraid your body protector does not fit. You shoudl be able to wear it for dressage, let alone hacking, It needs to be shorter. It should never come into contact with the back of the saddle as that sill cause it to be pushed hard upwards catching the back of your hat and shunting that forwards and potentially breaking your nose.
The body protector should sit no lower at the fornt than the lowest of your ribs and there should be a handspan between the bottom of your BP and the saddle.
 
I think if I had been wearing a body protector, I wouldn't have broken my rib. It's hard to fall off side saddle, but when you do, it's spectacular and you hit the ground HARD on your side. That's how I came off while jumping aside and now am paying for it two months onwards.

I do find my BP makes me feel stiff like a beginner and had to chop more off the lower back last night but it fits fine at the front and doesn't come below my last rib.
 
mmmm, food for thought.

I only tend to wear my BP when I do any jumping, as in the past I have never been that secure.
 
Since having a fall last year and my confidence taking a huuuggggeee hit! I am never without mine! Out of everyone i ride with i am the only one who wears one, but that's just fine by me. It's just part of my kit now as much as my saddle, bridle and hat are, it's just not worth the risk!
Kate x
 
I always ride in mine! I have a 4 year old so I never know what may or may not happen, so just to be sure, I wear mine.

I never knew your accident was so bad! You were very lucky Mrs M!
 
some dr saddles come really high at the back making it difficult for even a correctly fitted BP to sit well, I too once cut a peice off the bottom of my old one as I felt it was better to be too short than not wear at all


I now have the race safe one and don't have any problems with it at all. I rode for the first time in 3 months yesterday after an ankle replacement (bad fall) I should really have been wearing it, especially as my young horse had not been ridden for a month. Luckily it all went well.

I too already suffer from a bad back so I will now be thinking about whether to wear it all the time
 
Bosworth said:
Janette, I am afraid your body protector does not fit. You shoudl be able to wear it for dressage, let alone hacking, It needs to be shorter. It should never come into contact with the back of the saddle as that sill cause it to be pushed hard upwards catching the back of your hat and shunting that forwards and potentially breaking your nose.
The body protector should sit no lower at the fornt than the lowest of your ribs and there should be a handspan between the bottom of your BP and the saddle.
Click to expand...

Good advice above. I fit body protectors and when i was being trained the fitter also said it should not be too long as when it does ride up from hitting the back of the saddle it can, and he has know of a case where it hit the back of the hat and broke their neck (can't remember the exact details)
 
A Kanteq will be on order the month before I can get back on again.[/QUOTE said:
I had one fitted at Bramham 2 years ago, just before I bought the current mare. It is the most comfortable BP I have ever worn. I have a short back, despite being 5'8" tall and it allows me to sit down in the saddle properly. I do hack out in winter in my Bodyguard jacket. Thank goodness I had it on when I came off onto the road last winter. I made sure I landed on my bum (fairly gently) the first time to protect my feet & ankles. Unfortunately I couldn't avoid landing on my head the 2nd time but at least the bodyguard stopped anything other than bruising of shoulder/hip. Needless to say my hat was replaced immediately as well.
Click to expand...
 
Yaiks Mrs M! Scary stuff!!!

I'm trying to get myself into the habit of wearing a BP all the time. I bought a new one (Aerowear) for the move to France and have kept it on since. It doesn't cause me any problems with any of the dressage saddles, but it came in a huge range of sizes and is very adjustable.
 
I am a big girl and have tried several but have never yet found one that fits. I find that they are so tight that if I cough or move quickly they come undone. :o

I am sure if I fell off the BP would hit the ground separate from and before me!

Whenever I look at the sites for the made to measure ones they dont seem to go up to the size I want. I think a dress size 16 is aboutthe biggest ones available.

I had a very bad fall last year and was quite badly injured although a BP wouldnt have prevented those injuries. However this year I had another fall and cracked a rib and I am sure a BP would have prevented that one.
 
I never really considered a BP before I joined this forum. Having read about other people's accidents, I have racesafe one on order for my birthday in a couple of weeks.
 
I always ride Belle with a BP for both lessons and hacking, ever since I realised I was falling off her quite a bit and she was unpredictable! I have to admit that I really really hate it and I long to be able to ride without one, I just know that it's not sensible to do so.

I perhaps wouldn't wear one if we had a really safe ploddy sort of horse, though yes, I am aware that accidents can happen on those too! It's just that part of horse riding for me is the freedom of it and I would really feel quite liberated to ride without being wedged into a BP. Mrs Mozart's post certainly is a good reminder as to why I do wear one though.
 
I own a decent BP but I don't like wearing it. I find it quite restrictive and and sometimes causes more harm than good. The BP was fitted in January and I haven't put any weight on, yet I would only wear it for XC. I find it is very restrictive over jumps and I don't even wear it when I'm backing the youngsters :)
 
Roxanne said:
I am a big girl and have tried several but have never yet found one that fits. I find that they are so tight that if I cough or move quickly they come undone. :o

I am sure if I fell off the BP would hit the ground separate from and before me!

Whenever I look at the sites for the made to measure ones they dont seem to go up to the size I want. I think a dress size 16 is aboutthe biggest ones available.

I had a very bad fall last year and was quite badly injured although a BP wouldnt have prevented those injuries. However this year I had another fall and cracked a rib and I am sure a BP would have prevented that one.
Click to expand...

I had one made for me by Robinsons!
 
When my daughters rode i always insisted they wore BPs. Cos they wore them all the time, they just moulded to thier body and felt comfy. I wore one when hacking and jumping. You do get used to them
 
Mrs. M. get the daughters trained and on hand, as you will require them to get you the kantec :D I know because I am always called on to fasten pearlsasinger into hers. Be prepared for much hillarity and going OOOh as daughters knuckles dig you in the solar plexus :D :D :D. Mind you it is the best fitting BP (mine is not a kantec and I had to hack a lump off the bottom, even though it was fitted)
 
ISHmad said:
Glad that the BP ensured things weren't so much worse than they could have been MrsM. As you say each to their own. I never ride without a BP on, but I know some people find that something to sneer at.

How are you doing at the moment? Hope the physio is helping.
Click to expand...

Ta hun :). Sneeringmeering. Don't care what they think :D

Physio is definately helping thanks :D. I am going to have some wicked core muscles :D
 
Sorry folks, was going to reply to all, but so tired now. Had a good day, been to see neds and held for the farrier, went to see Alwaysbroke :D, went to see sister, now home and shattered.

I strongly recommend staying on top of one's ned, it's far less tiring than all this healing lark :rolleyes:
 
Roxanne said:
I am a big girl and have tried several but have never yet found one that fits. I find that they are so tight that if I cough or move quickly they come undone. :o

I am sure if I fell off the BP would hit the ground separate from and before me!

Whenever I look at the sites for the made to measure ones they dont seem to go up to the size I want. I think a dress size 16 is aboutthe biggest ones available.

I had a very bad fall last year and was quite badly injured although a BP wouldnt have prevented those injuries. However this year I had another fall and cracked a rib and I am sure a BP would have prevented that one.
Click to expand...

I'm a dress size 18 and I've never had this problem... I have an Airowear Outlyne BP, which is designed specifically to fit women (so I don't have the issue of "too tight over the boobs, too loose round the waist"), and I don't think mine is the biggest size they do. Have you looked at them?
 
Roxanne said:
I am a big girl and have tried several but have never yet found one that fits. I find that they are so tight that if I cough or move quickly they come undone. :o

I am sure if I fell off the BP would hit the ground separate from and before me!

Whenever I look at the sites for the made to measure ones they dont seem to go up to the size I want. I think a dress size 16 is aboutthe biggest ones available.

I had a very bad fall last year and was quite badly injured although a BP wouldnt have prevented those injuries. However this year I had another fall and cracked a rib and I am sure a BP would have prevented that one.
Click to expand...

Racesafe all the way - I'm also of the ahem larger size group and mine fits perfectly - the zip up so no popping undone and the lacing at the side gives "boob" room :)
 
Roxanne said:
I am a big girl and have tried several but have never yet found one that fits. I find that they are so tight that if I cough or move quickly they come undone. :o

I am sure if I fell off the BP would hit the ground separate from and before me!

Whenever I look at the sites for the made to measure ones they dont seem to go up to the size I want. I think a dress size 16 is aboutthe biggest ones available.

I had a very bad fall last year and was quite badly injured although a BP wouldnt have prevented those injuries. However this year I had another fall and cracked a rib and I am sure a BP would have prevented that one.
Click to expand...

I am trained to fit them in the shop I sometimes work in. A good shop will be able to take your measurements and order you one in. The Aerowear range is our best seller and their Adult Large is very big (I've only ever sold one to *coughs* a rather portly gentleman!).

Seriously though, they come in all lengths and widths. They will def make one to fit you! they are very comfortable too once worn in.

On a seperate note to the person who always tries to land on their bum... I came off on my bum in May and got carted off with a suspected broken pelvis which is actually life threatening! (you can also rupture internal arteries in the area) Luckily I only had severe muscle damage, but was still in bed for 3 weeks, off work for 6, couldn't ride for 3 months andeven now can't sit in a proper chair for more than 45 mins! Landing on your bum isn't always a great option! (note I was actually wearing a BP too! They need to invent bum shock absorbers!! I have told the company reps this!! ha ha!)
 
Interesting post. I hsve been thinking about getting one for a while. Don't think one would have prevented my broken shoulder but its worth it for other areas. Plus it'll keep me warm in the winter!

Any reccomendations? I don't need anything too fancy as I judt hack and school (flat) at the mo but I wanna do more jumping again because I used to love it so much! I presume you need a tougher one for jumping?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top