Nasty accident whilst teaching.. any suggestions to prevent a repeat?

charlie76

charlie76

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Last week I was teaching a group of riders who can ride to a decent level.
We did some flat work then trot and canter poles, I gradually built the exercise up to a boucne exercise of approx 1ft high ( this group usually jump 2ft6-3ft6) so pretty easy.
After doing the exercise several times one rider didn't keep her horse straight and it ran out at the last element causing the rider to fall off. She came off very slowley, landed on her feet then fell backwards onto the wing ending up sitting on it and knocking the fence over in the process.
She got back up and said she was fine and wanted to get back on, whilst she tried to get back on I noticed a tiny spot of blood on her leg so after much discussion as she really wanted to get back on she went and checked what she had done.
It turns out that she must have landed on the cup that was supporting the pole which had caused a hole in her leg so big and deep you could put your fist in it! I had to call an ambulance and she ended up having an operation to sort it out. It was very deep into the muscle- not nice.
The cups are normal ones that most people use and they are metal ones. Other than replace the whole set of SJ and WH fences do you have suggestions on how to stop a repeat of this?
It was suggested that we had plastic cups but another rider said that a friend had fallen on a plastic cup, it split and caused an even worse injury.

Any ideas?

PS rider is on the mend now.
 
I'd put it down as a bit of a freak accident TBH!

as you say, plastic cups are likely to cause similar injuries, and you won't want to have to replace a full set of wings and cups to get another style/make that don't use cups!
 
Accidents happen - and jumps hurt, so there's not a lot you can do without changing the jump wings - the plastic blocks are better in some ways for small grids (easier on your back when moving them, too).
To avoid run outs in future, stand in such a position that your body influences the horse, have the riders carry their whips in their inside hand (assuming you built the grid against the long side), and in extremis you can have poles running up to each jump to discourage the horse from a sneaky exit.
Hope your client recovers (and that you were insured
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eeek sounds a bit scary, but these things happen. I have a delightful scar 4 inch scar across my back (shaped like a comet), where I landed and skidded on a metal cup attached to a jump wing last summer. I should have been wearing a back protector of course.

As others have said, it sounds like it was a bit of a freak accident - don't blame yourself. Riding is not without risk.
 
I'd also say sounds like a freak accident. You could use the plastic blocks type wings that don't use cups but of course there is a limit then on height and you cannot do cross poles with the ends higher etc.
 
Keyhole tracks and plastic safety cups are the way forward. They have no spikey bits and drop off when pressure applied

I am going to have to shell out for some to use on the back rail of a paralell, having had a horse roll with me due to this its really stupid not to use them.

I know freak accidents occur, but the pin cups have had their day.
 
You could buy the keyhole tracks and just add them to your existing wings (assuming they are wood) for not too much money. For even greater safety you could also use the safety clips (as used on back rails) for all cups.
 
agree with jencash. freak accident.

The only thing I could think of would be to shorten or use shorter pins, so that less is protuding through when the cup is on the wing.

Some people, (like me) would manage to hurt self in a padded room! and there are no precautions that can be taken.

Glad rider is on the mend.

Fi x
 
Freak accidents happen, no matter how careful we are. You could look into the keyhole things but, quite honsetly, I really would not worry about it. Glad rider is recovering OK.
 
Not too sure about this but last sumer I was helping at my local RC to set up the show jumps for their annual show, someone said we had to use the plastic cups for insurance purposes?? Don't know much about it other than that, but obviously somewhere along the line someone has decided (in the insurance industry) that the metal ones are not suitable? Maybe someone who runs shows can shed some more light on this??
Prob not much help to your situation though!!
 
Accidents happen and if the rider had landed on the pole and broken her back (god forbid) then you wouldnt be looking for an alternative to poles, would you??
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Just put it down to bad luck..... lets face it, how many times have those jumps been jumped with those cups on and no one has hurt themselves???
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I cannot believe the amount of people that are saying 'ah well accidents happen'! Sure they do but especially if you are charging people to use jumps you are responsible.

You can be sued at the drop of a hat. The RC insurance requires safety cups on the back bar of an oxer / parallel

The BSJA and FEI have outlawed pin cups in competitions on the back bar and you rarely ever see them

Most competition centres are all keyhole and safety cups.

Its not because they are cheaper, its because getting caught up in cups is a COMMON accident.

But ah well horses are dangerous so lets not bother..............!
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I cannot believe the amount of people that are saying 'ah well accidents happen'!

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Niether can I. Last summer my daughter spent 9 days in hospital with 2 operations to wire her arm back together after a SJ accident. She was only jumping a 2' oxer (happy over 1mtr) but for some reason pony decided to take-off way too early, came down on the back bar and fell as a result. Had we been using safety cups I doubt the accident would have happened. The amount of pain she suffered plus 3 months out of the saddle and total loss of confidence jumping was a very high price to pay.
Given that the keyhole track can now be purchased for £2.30 per 50cm lenght with cups at £4.30, converting wodden wings is not so expensive. I will certainly be doing this to 4 sets of wings before the jumps go out in the field for the summer.
Sure accidents will still happen but atleast some of the more serious ones could be avoided for minimal cost.
 
I am afraid that in this day of blame and litegation you are leaving your door wide open to a substantial claim if you continue to use metal cups on show jumping jumps. Replace them immediately with plastic/rubber ones to the approved British/European Standard. Next time you don't want a more serious accident. Write up the accident in the yards accident book and then carry out a written risk accessment on the jumps. Make sure everything is recorded on paper just in case.

This is why all the flags/markers and jumps for cross country fences are now under revue as there have been a number of unfortunate accidents and safer markers and jumps are being designed to reduce the number of accidents so as to avoid future accidents, injuries and claims.

If you require any assistance then don't hesitate to contact me in confidence.
 
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