Safety riding gear - what do you regularly use?

[fidleyspromise]

I hack so have hi viz.
Then always wear hat, gloves and either long boots or short boots and chaps.
I have cage stirrups so there are times I'll ride in trainers.
Back protector - I don't have a current one and plan to get. I keep meaning to wear mine but so far haven't.

 

[Tiddlypom]

For the fellow glove haters amongst us I can recommend Ariat Tek Grip gloves as being lightweight and minimally bulky. I can cope with them if I have to . Plus they come in a wide range of sizes, I think I’m in the largest size (as usual ).

 

[cauda equina]

100 people have voted, 99% wear a hat!
I wonder if that's a mistake?
I can't imagine even getting on for a brief sit without a hat, although I used to hack for miles without one when I was young and silly

 

[Skib]

I never ride without a hat and bp.
I use my own Sprenger safety stirrups wherever I ride.
And normally have light-weight high viz. if hacking.
I wear short boots, always with suede half chaps. I would wear my very nice long boots but my legs got fatter during lock down and the boots no longer fit.
I dont always wear gloves in summer if it is very hot, but that is only because a glove sometimes gets lost and I am using fine leather reins on a horse I know well. When leading the mare back to her box I feel guilty that I have no gloves.

 

[scats]

Hat, long boots and gloves.

I do occasionally wear short boots but fortunately I had my long boots on when I broke my lower leg.
I could tell my lower leg and foot were at a strange angle even with long boots on… I dread to think what I’d have looked down to see otherwise

 

[AandK]

Hat and long boots always. Gloves for schooling/jumping, body protector for cross country.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

When my old horse was on working livery at a BHS training yard; you HAD to wear suitable boots, gloves & hat AT ALL TIMES when leading. When riding you had to have the aforementioned, plus a compliant body protector and a hi-viz tabard.

Now for the happy hacking I do, I wear a hi-viz/reflective tabard with a warning logo saying that I have a camera in operation. Horse has a hi-viz ribbon swish in her tail and a hi-viz OS strap round her neck. She wears pastern-bands on her hind legs.

I also wear a hat-cam. Vital little piece of kit this. I bought mine after a dog attacked us as we were riding. I'd been putting off buying one, and after the incident came straight home and purchased one.

 

[SO1]

I always wear gloves now after being the situation where I was riding with a friend up a track next to a quarry and a digger was next to the hedgeline and it lifted its arm just as we were riding past and her horse took off in one direction and Homey in the other. Homey in his rush to run home bashed my hand into a thorny bush. Once we had stopped and reunited with my friend we decided to continue on our ride. Later on my friend noticed blood coming from my hand by the time we got back and cleaned it realised there was a thorn in it and had to go to hospital to have it removed and flushed out. I ended up getting an infection.

Since then I have always worn strong gloves for riding I was not wearing them at the time as it was summer. If I had been wearing gloves I think my hand might not have got so battered.

 

[snowangel5]

Yes to the riding hat and the othe choices i picked but i do have a pair off riding gloves but i only wear when cold

 

[Cloball]

Safety equipment I would have liked today would be a universal engine shut off/ brake

 

[poiuytrewq]

I hate wearing gloves whether I’m riding or not, so I only wear gloves when it’s so cold that I’m forced to!

ETA I don’t count riding gloves as safety gear , they are personal preference IMHO. IME they interfere with the feeling down the reins.

Handling horses on the ground is another matter, gloves come into their own then especially when lunging or loading, or turning horses in/out.

Agree with the gloves! I just bought some New balance running gloves though and love them. They are so thin and light but have grip on the inside. I can’t bear seams round my fingers but I’m getting on really well with these. I’m not sure how long they will last as no finger re-enforcement

 

[JFTDWS]

I wear a hat and either long or shot boots.

If I’m riding bareback or just plodding F, I’ll wear trainers occasionally. Even the hat comes off for reenactment /medieval pony games.

I hate gloves, so they only come out in the depths of winter. If I went XC I would dig out a BP.

If I had another youngster or started doing decent level jumping or XC, I’d probably up my safety kit dramatically, to be fair.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Safety equipment I would have liked today would be a universal engine shut off/ brake

I will be very happy to lend you some.
My current 'in training' fuzzy is very much whoa than go.
As I prefer a superlight turbo throttle model, I'm having to work v hard! Swap?

 

[Cloball]

I will be very happy to lend you some.
My current 'in training' fuzzy is very much whoa than go.
As I prefer a superlight turbo throttle model, I'm having to work v hard! Swap?

I was mostly meaning to turn cars off so they don't try to mow you down but yet pony too is wired to the sky this week

 

[fidleyspromise]

100 people have voted, 99% wear a hat!
I wonder if that's a mistake?
I can't imagine even getting on for a brief sit without a hat, although I used to hack for miles without one when I was young and silly

It wouldn't surprise me. I know a couple people who go hacking in a popular woods and canter. I've seen one person go down a road so they're on roads for about 20-30 minutes total, gallop up hills etc without hats on.

 

[CarlungM]

Short boots, chaps, skull cap and I have a slimline top that incorporates Knox back, elbow and shoulder protectors. It's my motorbike one. I wear it under a coat or on its own in summer.

Hubby has the new body protector

 

[Skib]

Thank you for the info. I looked at the Knox on line and saw it is Level 2 protection. Bps for eventing are level 3. And so are the Airowear ones I wear when hacking. The extra protection is needed not for falling to tarmac but in case you fall onto a fence post or onto rocky ground.
I have always worn a bp when hacking so dont really notice that I am wearing it.

 

[Ratface]

Been having a discussion with a friend today about safety clothing etc.
I wear my BP each time I ride, she uses hers just for xc, because she has to. I pointed out the last 2 falls she has had have been out hacking, including cracking a rib at easter.

Poll coming up for various equipment.... I'm not including hi vis, not everyone hacks daily and most wouldn't wear in an arena, why would they?

Multi vote so tick as many as required.

Re: the high viz wearing in an arena. When I was schooling The Old Arabian in the school next door to our yard, I always wore hi-viz via a long velcro'd-together waistcoat and a wide hi-viz hat band. This was because Old Arabian was a complete spook monster and would levitate across the school at considerable speed and with no warning. The school is in a heavily-wooded area of the North Downs and if the wretch had ever dumped me, it might have been quite a while before anyone noticed me on the ground. Eventually, the YO and/or the grooms would have noticed that we weren't back and would have come looking for us and called 999. It's likely that the Air Ambulance would have been called as the most rapid resource available.