Health and Safety gone too far?

it's the very reason my 2 boys don't ride in them yet, once they are old enough to be going faster than walk & a slow jog then yes they can wear them for jumping, but i don't want to put them off riding by being uncomfy, and end up with them riding in that very stiff wooden position you so often see in children (& adults) who wear a BP all the time..... but then i am a very wreckless parent & will be plelted with rotting veg!
 
SirenaXVI said:
OK why so defensive? I AM entitled to my opinion and I AM allowed to discuss my opinion.

Health and Safety affects us all, and I (and it seems many many others) WOULD be affected if they were made compulsory for BD as they have for the PC etc so it IS something to do with me actually!

You can wear what you damn well like - no skin of my nose, I just think that if someone is soooo scared that they have to wear a bp in a bleddy walk/trot test (AND I am not talking about children or adults with genuine reasons) why bother doing dressage!
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This has nothing to do with the old cliche "health and safety gone too far".

It is about personal choice. There is no imposition and as far as I'm aware not likely to be from BD. So no problem really and no basis for discussion.

By the way what is "Health and Safety"? Those three words have so many different meanings to so many people.
 
I learnt to ride bareback with no hat & none of today's safety measures & it didn't do me any harm. In fact I think I actually learnt TO RIDE!!

Never mind body protectors, I'd like to ban walk & trot tests.
 
Maybe those folk who ride in back protectors all the time have become used to them and dont feel restricted .It kind of gives them an advantage for when and where they are compulsory.I would never dream of criticising anyone for wearing one.
 
Fair enough, but wearing a BP doesnt necessarily stop you having fun!!! I wish to God now I was wearing mine 6 1/2 months ago, believe me! But stupidly I wasnt.And that is why I will never ridicule someone who choses too.
 
I don't see why someone wearing a BP should mean they aren't having fun or that they are scared rigid, without telepathic abilities it's impossible to know why someone has decided on a particular course of action:confused: There could be many reasons behind the decision to wear a BP.

I'd be pretty miffed if I was one of the competitors and saw a post like this - it's no wonder the horsey world has a reputation for being unfriendly to newcomers and outsiders:rolleyes:
 
benson21 said:
Fair enough, but wearing a BP doesnt necessarily stop you having fun!!! I wish to God now I was wearing mine 6 1/2 months ago, believe me! But stupidly I wasnt.And that is why I will never ridicule someone who choses too.
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You were hacking out on a road and it is an entirely different scenario, you were not in the safety of an arena with a soft surface, I would not condemn anyone for wearing a bp in those circumstances. I know what happened to you was a terrible thing and I would not wish that experience on anyone.
 
Hmm, I am sort of on the fence on this one as I personally don't see why people feel the need to where them for doing general riding (ie not jumping etc) as i think if that person is so concerned about the possibility of falling off and injuring themselves then maybe horse riding is not the right sport for them?

I guess many of us are from the era of riding bareback, riding without hats etc etc and have also probably fallen off many a time and not been seriously injured so do not see the need to try and prevent every possibly likelihood of injury. In my mind it's a risk you take every time you get on a horse.

Times do change I guess and people are made to consider safety ALL the time now and sadly I think it's turned us in to a nation of paranoid people who are always wondering about the 'what ifs' in life. I just don't think that is a healthy way to live. Plus of course these days there is no such thing as an 'accident' is there - there's always someone who can be found accountable for it seemingly. Very sad indeed.

I think the day i feel i need to wear a BP to ride a horse in a dressage test or indeed just out hacking is the day i should maybe give up riding to be honest!
 
Is it me, or is this a strange topic! People should wear/ do whatever they wnat to if it doesn't hurt the horse or anyone else! When I worked in Italy most people thought I was soft for riding in a hat!

A girl in a local RC dressage comp was bucked off last year when her horse spooked out of the blue. She was riding "in the safety of an arena with a soft surface", but she was thrown against the arena posts and knocked out.... You can't predict what happens to you, and it doesn't depend on experience.. If someone feels the need to protect themselves so what??

Personally I agree with Mazda - ban walk and trot tests!! They're usually full of people who should be doing elementary anyway!
 
actually i think your really offensive....

i wear my BP all the time when riding as i had a bad accident a few years ago. and that saved me.

so even for riding RS horses (atm i have my own 4 year old).... i wear it.

im doing a walk/trot dressage test and as its her first show i may just wear it under my jacket as i will be nervous enough as it is.

we all have our own reasons, but i think your opening "why do you feel the need"... is offensive. its not health and safety gone mad..... its peoples choices.
 
Rebelzmum said:
I have two ex-racers and I do not even own a BP. Does this make me stupid? I have thought about getting one for when I teach my youngest one to jump and when riding her out hacking, but the ones I have tried feel extremely restrictive. A local tack shop fitted me for one and the one which apparently "fitted" me made me feel like the air had been sucked out of my lungs. I felt like I couldn't inhale properly. I was more likely to die from suffocation than being chucked off.
HOWEVER, I do not have an issue with anyone else riding in them, they're just not for me, at least not until I find one that I can breathe in and where my boobs aren't so squashed that they feel like they are under my chin!
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Photo please :rolleyes::D
 
My BP is great for flatwork lessons - it means that I don't have escaping boob issues... Had a lunge lesson wearing the wrong sports bra, and when we came back to walk I had to restrain an escapee. I have only 2 bras I'm willing to ride in without a BP, so if they're not clean/findable/dry, I just wear one of my less good/older sports bra and wear a BP as well... They tend to be prioritised for running, as I've at least got a workaround option for riding. That being the case, it's become a habit to ride in a BP in lessons, especially if there's a chance of jumping, so I pretty well always wear on. Bizarrely I'm less likely to wear the BP for a ride at the trekking place I go to as it's a pain with several layers of waterproofs, but I do sometimes.

I personally think that the picture with a BP is far better than the picture with someone's boobs flopping around as they do sitting trot. Not usually an issue with the pros at Badminton etc (presumably they've had time to work out appropriate support) but some of the people at Hatherleigh last weekend looked like they needed to visit a decent bra shop!
 
One important issue is that if in your employment you are riding horses then your employer would be sensible to insist that you wore a body protector whenever you rode a horse so that in the event of you having an accident they could demonstrate that they had taken all possible precautions to prevent you from being injured.
The same would apply if you asked or paid someone to ride your horse.
 
I'm not against BP's if they make people feel comfy then all the better. However, I rarely use mine only when I'm xcing and atm I am saving up for an air jacket and once I have this I will only use my BP for PC events. And once I get the air jacket I will probably showjump in it as they look better then BPs and are safer (in my opinion).

The only BP I can actually ride in are the racesafe as theses are the only ones I don't feel majorly restricted in. I think if you were brought up always wearing a BP though your probably more comfortable in one.
 
To me, dressage is all about control of the horse, down to the minute details. Any horse out doing dressage should be relatively safe, expecting youngsters in their first few outings. I hate BPs, find them restricting - but for those who've broken backs previously, get the point. One lady on my yard though who wears one for this reason, has her show jacket big enough that the BP fits underneath and she still looks 'normal'.
 
Oh, they're "sooo scared" to ride without one? Did you ask them?
I wear a body protector all the time, it's comfortable and fits well and doesn't seem to restrict me. I'm not scared to ride without one, I just happen to choose to do so. If anyone think I'm a wimpy numpty then I don't care. It's not H&S, it's personal choice.
 
Sirena - just out of interest (and rules aside) would you ever question the need for riders to wear a hard hat in a walk and trot test? Because their head will be in just as much danger as the rest of their body if something were to go wrong...so why shouldnt they protect both?

I am not someone who wears a BP for dressage - I use mine for SJ schooling, XC and occasionally hacking - but I have no problem with anyone who chooses to wear theirs. Why is it such a problem that they wish to take every precaution available to them? Surely it is nothing to do with health and safety, and everything to do with self preservation?
 
Kokopelli said:
I'm not against BP's if they make people feel comfy then all the better. However, I rarely use mine only when I'm xcing and atm I am saving up for an air jacket and once I have this I will only use my BP for PC events. And once I get the air jacket I will probably showjump in it as they look better then BPs and are safer (in my opinion).

The only BP I can actually ride in are the racesafe as theses are the only ones I don't feel majorly restricted in. I think if you were brought up always wearing a BP though your probably more comfortable in one.
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I thought that you could only use the Air Jacket over the top of a BP, not instead of it...?

BTW I totally agree with you re. Racesafe - I have one and I love it to bits, I actually feel as comfortable in it as out of it, and I NEVER thought I would say that about a BP! :eek::)
 
Hullabaloo said:
If someone wants to wear a body protector for a walk and trot test then I don't have a problem with it. I wouldn't feel the need myself, but if someone chooses to wear it then I really don't see what harm it does or that its any of my business.

At that level most people are going out to have fun and if they feel happier wearing a body protector where's the harm.

Now if it became compulsory, then I would have an opinion about it!
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I agree with Hullabaloo. There are worse things to worry about in the horse world than whether someone wears a BP or not!
 
If BPs were compulstory, then I believe H&S would have gone too far. But in the case of personal choice, and someone chose to wear one because they feel more comfortable wearing it than not, than no skin off my nose. I don't wear one - even though I own one. My hubby wears it more than I do--- but he's a skinny dude and uses it once a year to go Karting in or he ends up beaten up by the seat! LOL
 
SirenaXVI said:
The fact of the matter is that riding is a risk sport (and I realise that you know this more than most), we are in danger of becoming so mamby pamby that we are at serious risk of losing the whole point!
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So what is the whole point? I thought it was to have fun and if wearing a body protector helps someone do that then I don't see the issue.
Riding is a risk sport and we all make our own risk assessments based on our own experiences, level of expertise and personal circumstances. Health and safety gone mad would be to make people wear body protectors for dressage. What we have now is personal choice and surely that is a good thing.
 
SirenaXVI said:
This may be a little contentious but I am absolutely amazed at the number of adults wearing body protectors for a walk/trot test! Now if they were on scatty youngsters then I could perhaps understand this, but no, the majority are on sensible looking horses (who look half asleep actually). If you are THAT worried that you need to wear a BP in an Intro dressage test, why ride?

As an aside, dressage is as much about body movement and BPs seriously restrict body aids.

I suspect I will be lambasted for this post but I really don't give a monkeys backside!
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Yes agree and they look like riot police not riders... wimps!!:D
 
I dont have a problem with it. I had a bad accident just going for a hack- something that i had done almost every day for the last god knows how many years! I wish i was wearing my BP! You never know when an accident might happen so If someone feels more confident wearing one then so be it. It doest look as smart as just wearing a jacket but i dont have an issue if safety is a priority over aesthetics. It doesnt affect anyone else so so what?

If the body protector fits correctly it shouldnt affect the rider. I disagree that they 'seriously affect body aids'- even more so for a walk and trot test! If someone can ride around Badminton wearing one i dont think that a body protector can seriously affect the rider!

This is a very good point too-

Sirena - just out of interest (and rules aside) would you ever question the need for riders to wear a hard hat in a walk and trot test? Because their head will be in just as much danger as the rest of their body if something were to go wrong...so why shouldnt they protect both?
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It's a difficult one and I can see both points of view.

I was kicked in the back after a fall when I was younger and was luckly to get away with only a few broken ribs. I didn't ride for 3 months and then after that always rode with a BP.

Now several years later I still hack out with my BP no matter what I'm riding as the roads round us aren't great. I generally SJ in my BP though if it's really hot and I'm riding my connie then I sometimes don't bother.

I rode my nutty TB in a BP for a walk trot test.

After my accident I was doing a local level showing class in my BP and was told 'I didn't place your horse in the top 3 because you are wearing a BP!!!!'

I'm more relaxed about it now than I used to be BUT a friend of mine was riding her lovely calm never put a foot wrong mare at a walk across fields and she tripped and went down on her knees and my friend fell off, landed awkwardly and broke her back.

Chances of that happening are very slim - but it can happen - and for some people they'd rather protect themselves as much as possible even if only v small chance of something going wrong.

Also find that my friends attitudes have changed a bit as they have started to have kids etc and realise the implications of an accident . . .
 
I only wear one when it states in the rules that I have to, or for schooling over bigger xc fences. I think they look gross over/under hunting/showing/dressage attire.
There is a well known face on the WH circuit that always wears a brown airjacket- without the BP underneath. She had a bad fall last season so I can understand the need to feel cussioned, but I was under the impression that the airjacket is 60% less effective without the BP underneath.
Horses for courses eh?
 
LOL, can I add more fuel to the fire by saying I think that walk/trot tests are the most pointless thing every created?

BPs in walk/trot tests.... personally I think its ridiculous, but that is my opinion and I wouldn't wear one unless I was riding a lunatic. Actually that's probably not true as my last horse was a complete lunatic and I never wore one riding her even when jumping. I wouldn't tell someone else they shouldn't be wearing one but I don't want someone telling me I should be when all I'm doing it walking and trotting on a safe as houses plod.
 
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