Serious xc falls - always in the news lately

M

maya2008

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 August 2018
Messages
4,540
Visit site
Have there been more serious xc falls this year, or are they just being reported more? Almost every week I seem to see a story about someone, somewhere, who is seriously injured or has died xc.
 
No, I've noticed as well. I think that, like many accidents, these things come in waves. What surprises me is watching GP SJ and seeing a rider get well and truly mashed - and then the rider sits for a minute, surrounded by concerned officials, gets up and walks off.
 
My old boss had a fully rotational fall out showjumping, it is not just fixed obstacles that can cause them (although obviously with fixed the risk is higher).
I don't think there are more serious falls than before, nor that they are being reported more. Most people are getting this information off the internet, where things like your browsing history / habits have such great influence over what you see. If you have clicked on a story about a fatal fall, you will see more stories about fatal falls.
If anything, there are probably statistically far less than before, thanks to improvements to obstacle safety (frangible pin technology, proper fixing/anchoring of fences etc) and better standards of safety gear (air vests and the like).
 
joosie said:
If anything, there are probably statistically far less than before, thanks to improvements to obstacle safety (frangible pin technology,
Click to expand...
Frangible pins et al have improved safety, but after much evidence of kamikaze riding at Burghley 2019 many of us fear that it has caused some riders to respect the cross country phase less than they ought to.
 
I read an article on it a while back. The author thought it was because the dressage has such a big influence on the result and the courses have less rider frighteners (big fences) and more skinnies and corners (accuracy) that horses suited and trained for dressage 'also' do XC. They are obedient rather than clever.

Previously horses were more XC horses, with a basis in hunting where they learned to have a 5th leg. They then suffered the dressage and SJ phases. They did more work on rough/slippery/deep/hard ground as outdoor XC courses were not invented.

I also think a body protector may help protect you if you fall, but they also take away some flexibility to stay in the saddle.

Saddles have also evolved to keep the rider in the saddle, whereas the older, flatter saddles would eject the rider earlier in a flip over situation.

I think in trying to make it safer we have shot ourselves in the foot.
 
HazuraJane said:
No, I've noticed as well. I think that, like many accidents, these things come in waves. What surprises me is watching GP SJ and seeing a rider get well and truly mashed - and then the rider sits for a minute, surrounded by concerned officials, gets up and walks off.
Click to expand...

They are going slower that’s why they have fewer serious injuries and deaths.
 
There is an audit on the fei website about xc falls. Risk of falling is 1.5x higher at a frangible fence. Traditional brushes, ascending spreads etc are relatively low risk. Corners, square spreads and jumping downhill/into or out of water are high risk.
 
maya2008 said:
There is an audit on the fei website about xc falls. Risk of falling is 1.5x higher at a frangible fence. Traditional brushes, ascending spreads etc are relatively low risk. Corners, square spreads and jumping downhill/into or out of water are high risk.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Is that "falling" as in horse AND rider falling, or just rider falls in general?
If frangible pins make fences more dangerous why are they used?
 
joosie said:
Interesting. Is that "falling" as in horse AND rider falling, or just rider falls in general?
If frangible pins make fences more dangerous why are they used?
Click to expand...

Turn that around slightly.
Frangible pins are used on fences known to be higher risk. The presence of a pin doesn’t make the fence more dangerous* but instead aims to soften the outcome should the mistake/fall happen.

*caveat, assuming riders give the fence the same respect they would have minus pin
 
There are people out in the eventing world that probably should not be going to Badminton +/or Burghley despite being "qualified" as they have competed at soft 4*L events (ex 3*) Mark Phillips made this observation after Burghley. I was slightly surprised to see some entries at Burghley as I have seen them ride and thought to myself they will be lucky if they get round. There were people who would not of got in usually but did so as so many top level combinations had been to the Europeans and were not entered. There was someone at Badminton in recent years who had a serious fall at fence 3 who did not have either the horsepower or the ability to ride it and ended up in hospital for a few weeks (is well known by a family member who was horrified they were going to Badminton). Just because you have scraped a qualification does not mean you should use it IMHO.
 
maya2008 said:
Have there been more serious xc falls this year, or are they just being reported more? Almost every week I seem to see a story about someone, somewhere, who is seriously injured or has died xc.
Click to expand...

Social media has a lot to answer for! There has not been a fatality in UK for a very long time as far as I am aware.
 
Velcrobum said:
Social media has a lot to answer for! There has not been a fatality in UK for a very long time as far as I am aware.
Click to expand...

I think we need to be careful not to be too complacent (Solihull aside). At FEI level at least you have a certain level of consistency between courses and MERs for riders to compete over those courses. Just last week the young French lad had a serious fall, that could just have easily been an up and coming UK rider at a UK event.

We hosted a Burghley that could so easily added to statistics, especially those gates.

Do I think there is an increasing number of serious/fatal falls - honest answer is I don’t know because I don’t have the data. Gut feeling is probably not - we are just more aware of the ones that do happen.
 
I think there’s just much more reporting of it from around the world now - I’ve clicked through to a few H&H website reports recently and it’s been lower-level riders killed competing in Australia and while cross-country schooling in the US etc. Don’t remember anything like that a few years ago unless it was the odd occasion it was a very well-known rider.
 
I don't know is is it because riders don't respect fences with frangibles because they aren't as likely to get injured or if those fences are more likely to go wrong anyway with or without frangibles. I'd imagine it will be something that's studied.
 
Muddywellies said:
I once had this conversation with a (now retired) Olympic eventer and they said people are in far too much of a hurry to reach the top level, and people don’t hunt enough anymore.
Click to expand...

Interesting... When you think of the Germans who don't hunt, have been on top of the sport for quite a while and whose rider/horse combos don't seem to have many accidents.
 
I think it is just numbers, more people taking part, more social media coverage. There have always been bad falls. Sometimes there would be a rider doing really well and then you wouldn't hear about them any more and it turned out they had had a serious fall either at competition or at home but it wasn't reported years ago.

I think the frangible pin statistic is because the type of fence where they are used.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top