Laura collett, air jacket did inflate says h&h

EKW said:
Could I just point out that jockeys ride in bps that are about as much use as a cardboard box, they hit the grounds at higher speeds, have horses landing on them, get stood on by others et al and generally take a pummeling yet none have died for many years - not an air jacket it sight.
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How many fall instantly to the ground without moving/rolling out the way though? (Am aware of the two ITU inducing falls this year though).

Jockeys have momentum behind them for the most part, eventers don't with bad xc falls being from speed to zero almost instantly. Less speed, less likely to be ejected out of the saddle (along with a difference in saddle and stirrup length too...)
 
Very true that speed does indeed help them but I am sure you can appreciate just how sore it can be hitting the deck at speed. Both disciplines have vast differences and yet lots the same. An air jacket would have helped neither JT nor Brian prevent the injuries they did. I honestly can't understand all the fuss that isbmade over them. Sometimes less is more.
 
Oh definitely - jockeys are crazy fools IMHO and I'm amazed more bones arn't broken. Air jackets don't help when it comes to head injuries and even the best hat can only do so much.

As an aside, have the HSI hats caught on in racing yet?
 
Jockeys very rarely have slow rotational falls. They are also fit, trained to fall and get lots of practice. It's true an air jacket would not likely have made a difference in the high profile cases recently but they might have saved a collate bone or some ribs, which is an issue for an amateur who has to go to work the next day and look after the kids. It's not all about dying! Jockeys also have a huge motivation not to wear anything that weighs more than a tissue!
 
EKW said:
Could I just point out that jockeys ride in bps that are about as much use as a cardboard box, they hit the grounds at higher speeds, have horses landing on them, get stood on by others et al and generally take a pummeling yet none have died for many years - not an air jacket it sight.
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The reason there is not an air jacket in sight is because they are banned. Conventional BP s such as race safe are used and are a darn sight better than "a cardboard box".In racing a conventional BP does what it was really designed for . To reduce the impact from hooves from following horses after a fall. They do this remarkably well actualy.A racing fall ,whilst often looking quite spectacular ,is generaly a relatively painless experience as one hits the turf (not mud stones etc) at a glancing angle and the kinetic energy is absobed slowly over a distance. Also unlike an eventing saddle, a racing saddle is not much more than somthing to hang the stirrups from ,and one is ejected pretty early in the fall.
 
Point two tried to get air jackets into racing before they were ever marketed into the eventing world . They were banned at this point due to perceived safety issues with them in racing,not least being the effect the jackets going off with other horses in a race.
 
teapot said:
And yet their catalogue offers a racing hybrid version complete with level 1 Racesafe.
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IIRC when they put them to the racing industry the comment back almost immediately was that they were too baggy, and P2 had to go back and alter their design to fit tightly to the jockey and inflate outwards. They got there and then it was realised quite quickly that they would be a logistical nightmare when racing with starting gates - how many jockeys have a tactical dismount before they start? That and the fact that they spend their careers being taught how to most effectively fall from leaving the saddle and there was really no way you could roll well whilst your P2 was inflating around you. I think their ban came shortly after, after their design had been produced.

I wish the EXO had been given more of a chance. I don't wear either because I don't event although I have noticed a trent of wearing P2 out hunting which I personally would never do. I would actually like to see why would still be wearing them out of the big dogs if they removed all cash incentives and sponsorships...
 
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