body protectors, what for?

[Firefly9410]

I have come across varying opinions on body protectors including those who say they stop you falling properly, do not protect from serious injury and stop you riding properly. What are your opinions on this? Does anyone know which injuries do body protectors guard against? Are they likely to increase the risk of certain injuries? If you wear one, is it all the time or only for jumping?

 

[thatsmygirl]

I wear a air jacket as they are so comfy and do not get on a horse without it.

Body protectors will help lessen your injuries but will not provent broken bones etc. when I fell on the road which is why I now have a air bag I broke my back but the hospital said if I was wearing a body protector I could of got away with bad bruising, so who knows maybe I would off/maybe not but I wear the air jacket all the time as I'm left with pain every day due to my fall and its not worth it.

 

[thatsmygirl]

A properly fitted body protector will not stop you riding properly, after all the top riders get round badmington in them!!

Just pick a nice flexible type like racesafe

 

[booandellie]

I bought myself a body protector last year after a friend had a nasty fall and ended up paralysed but i found it restrictive and eventually sold it when i got stuck in a tree cos i couldn't bend low enough to duck!! I have replaced it though with an air jacket which i barely notice i'm wearing and wouldn't get on a horse now without one. maybe the bodyprotector i had was not a good fit although it was fitted to me in a tack shop. I found i could not ride properly wearing it though and felt more at risk of having an accident with it on because it was too rigid.

 

[Micky]

I used one when doing low level xc and it was a good fit, not restricting at all, you forget you have it on once riding...However how on earth did we survive when younger ratting around the fields, jumping water troughs bare back ......bit like how did we not maim ourselves with conkers, survive with just public telephone boxes..i could waffle on....

 

[MungoMadness]

I've been designing a body protector for my dissertation.

The standards are very non-committal about what injuries they help prevent, and obviously if they said "it stops you breaking you back" and someone broke their back whilst wearing one, they'd be liable. They can't physically guruntee to protect against all injuries. However I personally believe they do help to protect against serious injuries, they just can't say that as it can't be gurunteed 100%

What they do say is something along the lines of helping to protect against bruising, broken ribs, and damage to internal organs.

 

[Palindrome]

The body protector works by stabilizing your spine, padding you out a bit and preventing things like penetration of a branch/foreign object. From what I understand, the spine can get damaged in 2 ways: by compression and by being bent too much (sorry non technical wording here). The compression cannot be prevented but the bending is limited by the body protector which keeps your spine aligned when you fall.
I don't really see the points of the racesafe as they look so flimsy. I have an old Airowear outline and it's OK and doesn't limit your movement. The problems I have had/heard is from body protector being too long at the back thus hitting the saddle and being too tight.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I only wear one for work because it is compulsory. It's a Level 1 Racesafe - what jockeys wear on the racecourse. They are very light and very flexible, you hardly notice it is there. As to what it would protect you from? Same as anything really - stuff going through your skin, taking the full force out of a kick, scrapes, scratches et al. Basically they don't prevent damage they just lesson the extent of it.

I don't wear one at home, never have, never will.

 

[Nudibranch]

I have a Racesafe 2010 which is a bit chunkier than the Level 1 but it's completely non-restrictive and I don't even know I'm wearing it. It is a lot more comfortable than my Outlyne, which I don't even bother with now. I don't see how they could cause injury in any way...at the end of the day if you have a fall you're better off wearing one.

Interestingly my right knee has started playing up, making emergency dismounts quite tricky. When the new horse took off up a near-vertical bank (long story) I bailed out but due to the cr@ppy knee ended up on my back. There were no consequences at all, no pain or stiffness afterwards but I am sure if I hadn't been wearing my RS I'd have had a few bruises at least. No, they won't stop your neck breaking but they may save your spine lower down. I wear mine all the time, no reason not to.

 

[Micky]

they dont stop you from breaking your ribs!!

 

[SpringArising]

They're designed to protect your internal organs and knocks to your spine and ribs.

I wore one (my parents made me!) from the age of 7-15 and it never stopped me doing anything!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

they dont stop you from breaking your ribs!!

Mine appeared to, came off 3 years ago on a mega spook and whip round, friends horse did same and she stayed on, her horse left a good sized imprint on my upper chest.

Won't go xc or sj without one, nor riding a new horse.

The only time i feel restricted is when dismounting and as am now a bit inflexible in lower legd, thats forgivable

 

[ahorseandadog]

Protecting you from broken bones and/or having internal injures.

 

[cobalobM]

I have a racesafe and dont even notice Im wearing it! the only time it restricts me is if i have to get on from the ground! i wear it sj and xc...

I had an incident when a horse reared, fell over and landed on me- I came away with a black eye and concussion.. im pretty sure my racesafe took the majority of the impact and i would have come off a lot worse if i wasnt wearing it!

 

[Ben2684]

Some years ago I had a bad fall, my horse at the time bucked, reared, and then proper bolted. I'm sure to this day he was bitten by something but could find no marks anywhere. Anyways not exactly sure what happened, ended up with concussion, six broken ribs and two of these ribs had punctured my lungs. I was airlifted to hospital and spent 6 days in there before coming home and spending 8 weeks recovering. I was wearing a body protector. I was told that had I not been the chances of much more serious internal injuries, affecting major organs would have been greatly increased and that it possibly saved my life, I guess we will never know now. I always wear one, I have an aerowear outline and find that I am so used to it getting on without one is like driving without a seatbelt-feels very odd!

 

[Firefly9410]

I will start wearing mine more then. When I first started riding people only wore them for xc competitions. I no longer compete so never wore it and was unsure if there was any point for every day riding but you have all convinced me it would be a good idea.

 

[[59668]]

I have a racesafe and an air jacket. Used to only wear the air jacket every time I rode and it has protected me after falls. But now I am finding I only wear my body protector every time I ride. I like the option of a quick dismount which you don't get with an air jacket.

 

[Skib]

I began to ride in my 60s. I started to wear a bp as soon as I began to hack - and after a miltiple fall in a group lesson, decided to wear it all the time. If you wear a bp all the time, assuming it is properly fitted, you really dont notice you have it on when riding.

My problem is the difficulty of finding a bp that fits me. Sizing is really limited even in the top brands. If one has a broad rib cage and waist and narrow shoulders there is really nothing. So anyone designing something please look at shoulder and neck options -

I wear Airowear and my user experience is that I have remained uninjured in all my falls, including one onto tarmac from canter which left me with marked bruising outside the bp area.
On the other hand some bps seem to provide a harder surface to land on. My OH (75) fell off for the first time onto his Racesafe a month ago and his back was bruised even in the bp. The back panel of the Racesafe curves nicely to fit him but the landing surface of foam feels very hard to me. I suspect I get a softer landing in the airowear.
My fall rate went right down till last year when I fell twice - again completely unhurt tho winded. So I am probably pretty good at testing these bps and I suspect I might not still be riding and hacking, if I did not wear one. It is easy to say that old people shouldnt fall. But it isnt always due to bad riding. My beloved horse who aged with me became unsafe due to gradually losing its sight.

 

[iaej]

Picked up my Airowear Outlyne from the tack shop last night and could not be more glad since I fell off twice in my lesson today!! I am a novice rider and landed on my back the first time and my bum the second time after loosing my balance. I barely felt the impact, ever so slightly winded the first time and I've pulled my neck a little. I can honestly say that it would have hurt a lot more had I not been wearing it. I cannot say how much protection it offers on a hard surface such as tarmac but I definitely won't be taking the chance of not wearing it.

 

[Kezzabell2]

Every since I got my mare 14 yrs ago, I've always worn one, even for just hacking! she was mental in the first few years and it certainly stopped me being damaged on a number of occasion. It defo stopped me having broken ribs when she trampled on me!

I actually think it makes me ride better, makes me sit up straight and stops my boobs bouncing about! don't have to worry about wearing a sports bra haha! but they aren't flattering!

 

[sasquatch]

I rode in a BP until 2/3 years ago and yes it did make quite a few falls less paintful

I have a spine that is overly bent (leading to bad posture and still pushing doctors for a diagnosis!) which over the past 4-5 years has got worse. BP could cause me a bit of pain, and I became very very stiff as a rider.

Personally, I had worse falls in my BP than not. That might also be down to me having improved as a rider, or falling off that many times in the BP I am able to land on my feet (or forward roll). The only thing I found with the BP was that I wasn't able to 'fall' - I did martial arts for years where we were taught to 'fall' and parts of that have stuck with me as I seem to 'roll' when falling and often found a backprotector was a bit too rigid to roll in.

I would wear one for xc, and if I was on a new horse I wasn't sure of. My own horse I understand the risks, and am comfortable enough not to ride with one on him.

 

[JustKickOn]

I wear my BP for show jumping, cross country and any fast work in an open field. Also wear one if I'm getting on the younger mare as she can be quite sharp. Put an air jacket on with her too, but borrow my friends as the horse also belongs to her!

If I had worn a BP a good few years ago, I wouldn't have muscle damage on one side of my back and as a result wouldn't be in mild pain each day. Horse threw me off into a jump and my back crashed into a pole and then bent back round it. A BP would definitely have prevented it.

I've had a few falls in a BP and have been a bit stuff from the impact and mild bruises but have a few crashes without one and been really quite hurt.

If you find one that suits and fits your body type, then they're well worth wearing.

 

[Penumbra]

Body protectors won't protect against broken bones in all circumstances, but they can lessen the impact, which probably helps prevent injuries to the ribs and back in many cases. They will also usually lessen bruising, and help prevent internal injuries by cushioning your impact a bit. That doesn't mean you can't be seriously hurt while wearing a body protector, though.

I'm pretty sure the original purpose of body protectors was to protect race jockeys once they had fallen. The concern wasn't so much the impact of the fall, but the prospect of jockeys being injured by the horses behind them trampling/stepping on them. The idea is that they would reduce the impact of the hoof, and prevent the skin from being cut. I would say they are pretty good at doing this in general, as well as protecting you from foreign bodies when you land. That's something an air jacket perhaps wouldn't do quite as well, especially if the foreign bodies are sharp.

I think there's very few scenarios where wearing a body protector would make your injuries after a fall worse, but in some cases they might cause you to fall where you might stay on otherwise.

I don't usually ride with a body protector at the moment, as I'm not doing much fast work/cross country and I don't usually ride on the roads. That's more due to laziness than anything else though. I do find it more comfortable to ride without a body protector- but I think if I spent a lot of money on a well fitting one, I probably wouldn't be as uncomfortable riding with one.

 

[starryeyed]

I have huge respect for body protectors, I have had several nasty falls in the past and know without a doubt that I would have been a lot more damaged had I not been wearing one. Have also been protected by one on the ground when I once randomly put it on before tacking my horse up in the stable (usually put it on just before I ride), something in the back of the stable (there is a window there) badly spooked her and she panicked and tried to jump the door - unfortunately I was stood in front of the door and the kick bolt had fallen back over so i was stuck there - it is not fun being crushed by a terrified horse and having its front legs either side of your shoulders as it does everything in its power to go through or over you. Eventually she took the door off the hinges and I went flying across the yard, but was seriously thanking my lucky stars that I had my body protector on for that - after seeing the state of it afterwards I would not have wanted that to be my body! Riding wise I wear it the vast majority of the time as my horse is sharp and imo it would be stupid not to. It's comfortable enough (a racesafe) - on very, very hot days I will school without one but wouldn't hack or jump.

 

[ccls]

Another vote in favour of back protectors here. I was thrown with some force (not by the horse just the centrifugal forces !!) on to a stone wall when the horse I was riding was chased across a heath by a barking dog. At the end of the track over the heath was a stone wall - horse turned right to avoid the wall and I went straight on and hit the wall with my back. Slightly winded but no injury not even bruised. Only had very slight whiplash but if I'd been wearing my 'Powell' neck support I doubt I would have felt anything. My friend wasn't quite so lucky as her head hit the wall and ended up in hospital though thankfully just mild concussion.

Wear mine all the time now.

 

[TheFizzPony]

I wear mine all the time, the only time I didn't I had a horse fully rear up with me for no reason (never done it before or since) so I have worn it every time since then! Was definitely glad of it when during my most recent fall. It did wind me a little but I think I would have been much worse off had I not had it on. The only time I maybe wouldn't wear it would be for a dressage test, having worn it already in the warm up, or if I am schooling and its really hot as I wouldn't make my pony do much in that anyway.

 

[tinafletcher1]

our yard owner is trying to insist the wearing of body protectors at all times, but most of us believe it should be a matter of personal choice. I wear mine for fast work and xc, but not for hacking or jumping in the arena. as to preventing injury, a friend of mine broke her back whist wearing a protector. I sold my Mark Todd protector as it was like being in a straight jacket, too restrictive. I now have the race safe 2010, very comfortable as it is very flexible .

 

[my bfg]

Had to wear one at college for jumping lessons but didn't bother when I first got my mare, came off in a dry field and landed on my back moving my hip 5", cue years of physio and chiropractor visits, came off on the road whilst wearing it, landed in the same position two chiropractor visits got it back on track, don't ride without it now, never feel restricted when on board just when mounting/dismounting

 

[springtime1331]

I wear mine all the time. It's a racesafe and very comfortable

 

[Gazen]

When I first bought my TB I wore a BP all the time as she is very sharp, I now only tend to wear it when we are jumping or going somewhere new. I have an Aerowear Outlyne. It is very stiff when it is first put on but then it softens as it gets warm. The biggest drawback is that the back of the BP hits the back of the saddle in canter, but, I do dressage in a dressage saddle, so I can't have a forward seat as you do when jumping or x-country. I also have an air jacket, but my concern with that is that I will fall and land on the canister.