How often should I wear my body protector?

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m8bee

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Just wanted a different opinion... How often should I wear my body protector?

I have been riding for nearly four years and I have only fallen 3 times, I get regular lessons and I ride the school ponies. I dont really use mine much but a friend of mine has had a pretty nasty fall and I just
needed some advice.

Thnx:)
 
Every time you ride?

I haven't ridden in a long time, but had a BP when I rode regualrly and didn't always wear it until my Mum asked what was the point of spending £70 (this was about 15 years ago) on something that was supposed to protect me and then not wearing it?

You might never fall off again, but you'd feel a bit silly if you did have a nasty tumble and sustained injuries that the BP might prevent/reduce severity of if you had been wearing it...

It's a bit like not wearing a seatbelt in a car I guess :)
 
When ever you want depending on what risk you are happy to take when you ride.
My bp is comfortable and non restrictive. I can't guarantee that each time I ride I won't fall off so I always wear my bp - apart from when I am competing at dressage (more due to vanity to be honest).
 
How often do you wear your seatbelt? Onyl when you are planning oon driving dangerously or all the time?

I have been wearing a BP everytime I sat on a horse for the past 12 years, had a fair few nasty falls where I have been lying on the ground thanking my BP for saving it from being a hell of a lot more painful.
 
Entirely up to you!

Some wear them all the time, some wear them to jump, some only wear them when the rules say you have to.

Your choice.
 
i wear mine everytime i ride as it only takes on fall to break something vital, i also wear mine when im putting hay out in the middle of the field now as ive been clobbered in the shoulder & back of head by a pair of hooves mid scrap over hay (despite there being 2 bales worth spread in 6 piles for 2 ponies) there is alway something wrong when you find yourself sat on your knees wondering how the hell did i get here??
 
How often should you wear a your hat?

Both offer protection and prevent more serious injuries.


S it's pretty much the same question it's just that it's the 'done thing' to wear a hat these days and only more of a 'done thing' to wear a bodyprotector when your either XC jumping or say when your riding younsters etc.

I think more people these days are actually wearing them on daily basis when hacking, rather than just dusting them off and bobing them on for compeitions because a) you have to and b) it looks the part!

The way I look at it is, I spend more time hacking and schooling than I do doing anything else, therefore surely I'm more at risk from falling off and injuring myself than I am if I only used it for XC etc.

You only know you've had a bad fall when you've fallen and by that point it's too late to decide if you'd of been better off with a BP on.

I enjoy using mine, keep me warm, adds a bit more protection and I know I'm getting my money (well mum's money) out of it, as I always say, it's probably the best present should could of bought me....minus the number of riding hats I went through as well! :D
 
Kenzo said:
How often should you wear a your hat?

Both offer protection and prevent more serious injuries.
Click to expand...

This ^^

I never used to wear one apart from jumping. Last year I had a nasty fall out hacking that could have resulted in broken ribs/punctured lungs etc had I not been wearing it (I was going to jump a log in the woods!!) Luckily I came away with only bruising and I have worn it every single time I ride ever since.
 
Personally I only wear mine when I have to. That is when jumping on grass at our yard, I don't wear it in the school. I don't hack at all at the moment, but I think I might well wear it to hack on the roads.

Wear it as often as you want to/feel you need to, you can't wear it too often, only not often enough!
 
Well I always wear mine, that way you think nothing of wearing it any more, mine is comfortable and moulded to me now, my mare does not give cause for it but accidents happen after all, why not protect yourself I say. I have a bad enough back as it is so I like to keep it as protected as possible, but its personal choice at the end of the day :)
 
Im really bad I have one but I barely ever wear it. I wore it the first time I backed Samba but hated it. And when I first rode her with a saddle it drove me nuts so I took if off. I would wear it cross country and I think with her I would wear it for our first gallop but I really hate it. I think its too long and hits the cantle, and im not a short person.

FUnny though, when and if I have my own babies and they ride they would defo have one.
 
QR - I wear mine ALL the time I am on a horse, any horse!!
I have been riding for over 10 years and even trained at a yard, done BHS exams etc. I never use to wear one unless I was doing XC, but recently, I bought a Rodney Powell one to take part in a 2 day event, and thought why not wear it all the time! I've spent all that money on a good one!!
I trust the horses I ride, but I have seen a lot of freak accidents accur, from horses slipping and going over, to random out of the blue spooks.
It makes me feel so much more confident as a rider, and as long as you have a proper fitted one, you won't even know your wearing it!!
 
I wear mine every time I ride. My daughter was in the school (rubber surface), on her pony, she fell off and broke her back - 2nd & 3rd vertabrae.
 
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