Vets and Helmets

[PipsqueakXy22]

My grandmother had the scars from going through a windscreen in her mid 30s. I can remember my dad moaning about the seatbelt law because his was broken and had to be fixed (although if that particular car had crashed I think it would have disintegrated around him - held together by rust)

Helmets in GP dressage were a rarity until Charlotte started wearing one and for the trot up too I believe

I've always warned vets that my big Appy will kick with intent if they try a flexion test but I've had a couple who still thought it was a good idea. So there they are leaning in to grab the back leg of a 620kg mare who they have already been warned knows a flexion test hurts and doesn't want them anywhere near her. None have ever gone and got a helmet despite the fact I'm usually wearing mine for any lameness eval with that particular horse.

Can I just ask out of curiosity how would you do a flexion test on that horse then? Just a lot of patience?

 

[teapot]

All very interesting replies thank you. I am interested in the comments that quite a few make a link between helmet wearing and a perceived lack of confidence. I suspect that it will be absolutely the norm in 5-10 years time, but it is a hard route for those being the pathfinders. I am an equine vet with decades of experience, and often get the slightly less easy horses to deal with. Wearing a helmet would not be in my comfort zone, however I think we may be about to have a 'seatbelt' moment for this, and look back at our younger selves wondering what on earth we were doing. I am also an employer, and feel it is my duty to protect my staff.

I do know vets, and an EDT, who tried this 10 or so years ago and lost quite a lot of business over their perceived lack of confidence, but I would like to think that times might have changed. I would never get on (nor be allowed to get on) a horse in racing yard without a BP, nor on any horse without a hat, and I survived the transition from beaglers to proper hats for dressage, so I think this is probably on a par and will become the norm.

This is not my practice, but was one of the things that sparked the debate in our practice:
Facebook

Oh, and barring the Vetpartners admirable campaign, this is NOT a corporate issue. We are owned by a corporate and they have never mentioned hats to us once. This is NOT corporate policy, this is our decision, as the vets on the ground.

Really interesting post.

Out of interest, where does wearing PPE come into vets and employment law/safe working environment, has it ever been defined?

 

[SEL]

Can I just ask out of curiosity how would you do a flexion test on that horse then? Just a lot of patience?

You don't! She has known hock arthritis and it was vets insisting on doing flexion tests every time they saw her trot up that started the behaviour. It started to get dangerous for the farrier until I changed vet practices and put my foot down.

 

[ponynutz]

I’d think it was a little odd initially but that it was up to them and I certainly wouldn’t say anything. It would probably make me think about my own safety around horses and would also probably make me trust them more as it suggests attention to detail when it comes to safety.

 

[Sossigpoker]

You don't! She has known hock arthritis and it was vets insisting on doing flexion tests every time they saw her trot up that started the behaviour. It started to get dangerous for the farrier until I changed vet practices and put my foot down.

My orthopaedic vet won't even do flexions- only for vettings because he has to.

 

[YorksG]

My orthopaedic vet won't even do flexions- only for vettings because he has to.

An old school vet we used, until he retired, insisted that flexion tests were intended to cause temporary lameness. He really disliked them being used in vetting.

 

[Umbongo]

I havnt read all the comments but I would say that it's a good idea and possibly long overdue.

A few years ago a regular vet at our yard didn't turn up to an appointment. We found out he had died the previous day by a kick to the head on a routine visit, horse was not known to be flighty. He left behind a wife and 3 young children.

 

[Lurfy]

It would be absolutely fine with me if my vet wore a helmet. I would feel terrible if my horse injured a vet or anyone else.

 

[eahotson]

I'd think that they were pretty sensible TBH. I'm a freelance groom myself and often think about how mad it is of me to go out to all of these different horses and very, very rarely do I wear my hat unless I'm riding.
One of my close friends was killed by a horse she was clipping for someone else not so long ago. She'd never been out to that horse before and had been told he was absolutely fine, only to find out later that he kicked something dreadful when you went under his belly!
I definitely think it should be more common place to wear hats around horses, especially ones we don't know well.

How horrible!!Yes I think we all need to be more aware especially around strange horses

 

[tristar]

All very interesting replies thank you. I am interested in the comments that quite a few make a link between helmet wearing and a perceived lack of confidence. I suspect that it will be absolutely the norm in 5-10 years time, but it is a hard route for those being the pathfinders. I am an equine vet with decades of experience, and often get the slightly less easy horses to deal with. Wearing a helmet would not be in my comfort zone, however I think we may be about to have a 'seatbelt' moment for this, and look back at our younger selves wondering what on earth we were doing. I am also an employer, and feel it is my duty to protect my staff.

I do know vets, and an EDT, who tried this 10 or so years ago and lost quite a lot of business over their perceived lack of confidence, but I would like to think that times might have changed. I would never get on (nor be allowed to get on) a horse in racing yard without a BP, nor on any horse without a hat, and I survived the transition from beaglers to proper hats for dressage, so I think this is probably on a par and will become the norm.

This is not my practice, but was one of the things that sparked the debate in our practice:
Facebook

Oh, and barring the Vetpartners admirable campaign, this is NOT a corporate issue. We are owned by a corporate and they have never mentioned hats to us once. This is NOT corporate policy, this is our decision, as the vets on the ground.

i have the teeth and vac thing coming up shortly, i will say to the vet `what do you think about wearing a hat whilst consulting, handling going near horses?`
i will of course be wearing a hat just to get the ball rolling, mainly due to this thread, thank you, because every year i get near the horses with the gag in and think shite this is blxxdy dangerous, and every year i have forgotten to put on a hat beforehand.

if the RCVS put out a directive for all equine and perhaps bovine vets to wear hats it be the norm in 3 weeks and no one would even notice it

i often wonder if the needles are not as sharp as years ago, i never had any horse object to injections till recent years


and i do think its good wear with tb horses in particular, they are highly strung, reactive and while not as strong as a cob, maybe in need of more veterinary interventions than the average cob, so more exposure

 

[Roxylola]

This reminds me of the Parelli's aassertion that only someone scared of their horse would choose to wear a helmet while riding! ?.

I'its not the horse I'm scared of, it's the ground!
Re vets and hats, if wearing a hat means a vet can feel (and importantly act) confidently while handling the horse it means they're going to do a better job imo than someone hesitant and worried

 

[humblepie]

On the employment side, it would be for the employer to risk assess and then if the employer decrees helmets or safety footwear for example as PPE to provide it free of charge. I must admit when I met the hunt in the dark on a main road the other day without any lights, light coloured clothing, reflective materials I did wonder about the hunt's employment health and safety obligations if any of those were employees, which I imagine one at least would have been.

 

[Matafleur]

The horse world is utterly mad isn't it?! At my work we spend an unbelievable amount of time and money making sure we do we everything we can to keep our people safe. It's unacceptable in my industry for people to be having an accident at work where we could have done more to prevent it, no-one should be returning from work in a worse condition than they arrived.

When there is any kind of lost time incident we have a lengthy process in place to investigate and address the issue. This is the kind of thing that people lose their jobs over and can potentially be imprisoned for. Vets work in an extremely risky environment with animals that can easily kill you at the best of times and they are usually dealing with those animals when they are stressed and in pain.

Why any vet practice doesn't mandate helmets is beyond me, and the people saying they'd think that the vet was incompetent for wearing a helmet, I won't even write what I think about that.

You are talking about people going to work, employers have a duty of care to keep their people safe and they should be utilising every avenue to do this.

 

[MagicMelon]

Doing what they do, often with stressed animals - Im surprised they dont always wear helmets around horses, cows etc. Seems strange not to.

 

[J&S]

I was just going to mention farm vets and cows. A local vet was completely incapacitated for the rest of his life by a cow. Also, my step daughter, on virtually her last day at Liverpool vet uni, was kicked on the fore head by a cow as a gate was not secured properly. She was lucky, she is very small and must have managed to dodge the full blow.
BHS states hats and gloves should be worn when running up a horse for the vet, would not seem odd for the vet to be protected too!

 

[Marnie]

I was just going to mention farm vets and cows. A local vet was completely incapacitated for the rest of his life by a cow. Also, my step daughter, on virtually her last day at Liverpool vet uni, was kicked on the fore head by a cow as a gate was not secured properly. She was lucky, she is very small and must have managed to dodge the full blow.
BHS states hats and gloves should be worn when running up a horse for the vet, would not seem odd for the vet to be protected too!

I live on a beef farm and often help my friend move cows around - I am always amazed about the kick that they have on them and the reach they have. My friend nearly lost her front teeth when a cow kicked a gate and it hit her in the mouth.

 

[sallybess]

I'm a doctor and horse owner I think they absolutely should wear helmets as a matter of course. Equine vets do an extremely high risk job dealing with unpredictable and often distressed large animals who they don't know well and serious injuries are pretty common. A vet is completely reliant on their brain for work so any simple measures they can take to mitigate the risk is just sensible.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I’d be all for it personally! It might surprise me at first, simply because I’ve not seen a vet wear a hat before, but why shouldn’t they protect themselves in a risky job? I might judge them on their demeanour and knowledge but not for making a sensible choice. And I would actually feel better too knowing they were at less risk from our horses.

 

[suestowford]

I offered the vet the use of a hard hat once, and she accepted.
She is our regular vet, but the time before we'd had a different one come, and she upset my big pony to the extent that he was rearing up & thrashing about. In light of his reaction to the other vet I thought it might be prudent for both of us to wear a hat.

 

[Nicnac]

Wouldn't bother me and horses usually used to people in hard hats so wouldn't freak them out. My vet often comes by motorbike when weather good so could just keep his helmet on.....