Question about leg protection

[cobsarefab]

I've just been looking for my hockey kit and have found my shin pads. I was wondering why we don't ride in them? They offer support, stability and protection for the legs so why not? There's probably a really obvious answer to this so sorry but just why wouldn't you?

 

[be positive]

Why would you want to ride in shin pads, a decent pair of leather boots, not the soft ones most people wear now, will do the job out hunting which is the only time you are really at risk of a kick or being put into a gatepost, the rest of the time I cannot think why you would require shin protection you may as well get a full set of armour and cover everything, better still don't ride if the risks are too great.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

A decent pair of long boots are much more use and much more flexible than shin pads. In the grand scheme of things it's never your shins that take the brunt of any damage. It's always the toes!

 

[Shay]

When out riding - why would you be hit in the shin with a hockey stick?

Having played hockey in the dim and distant non H&S mad past - the shin guard is to protect you from an opponent's stick or a close stroke with a ball. That really isn't going to happen to you riding. A shin guard won't protect you from a kick - it covers a far too limited area of your leg and not really the bit which is exposed. Your shin is tucked in against the saddle. If anything you would need protection skewed sideways onto the outer surface. A shin guard certainly doesn't offer support or stability. Your shin bone (also called the tibia and fibula) are weight bearing. Padding the front of it does not offer any support - that's a bony extension. There is nothing to support. Equally there is nothing to offer stability to. The section along the front of your leg from ankle to knee is not flexible.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

What would you want to protect your leg from?

 

[DabDab]

Interestingly enough, the only permanent injury I have from horse riding (well, more falling than riding I suppose), is damage to my shin bone leaving a 2inch long patch with no surface feeling and stabbing pain up the bone if I run on hard ground. But that was a pretty bizarre accident - it was just the part of me that the horse happened to clout as they went past as I had curled up in a ball after hitting the floor.

Shin pads are vile things, and I certainly wouldn't want to ride in them. Being able to stay with the horse's movement will save you more injuries than any protective gear, so it has to be a pretty damned important piece of protective wear for me to put it on if it's in any way restricting my ability to move.