Riders speak out to save lives
Riders and associations are urging others to ensure their protective gear can do the job is it designed to do
RIDERS from professionals to happy hackers are joining forces with governing bodies and retailers to back the British Equestrian Trade Association’s (BETA) first annual safety week.
The aim of the initiative, which runs from 28 April to 6 May, is to highlight the importance of wearing protective equipment which is correctly fitted and fastened, and up to the appropriate standards.
BETA executive director Claire Williams told H&H the emphasis is on this rather than on wearing the equipment in the first place, as most UK riders already do.
“But if you’re going to wear it, for heaven’s sake wear it properly,” she said. “An extraordinarily high percentage of riders do wear helmets in this country, which is great, but to be effective, it has to fit and be fastened properly, up to standard and appropriate for what you’re doing. If it doesn’t fit properly and isn’t well maintained and fastened, it won’t do the job it’s designed to do.”
Ms Williams said the aim is to raise awareness, and the initiative is running beyond Britain.
“We’ve been thrilled by the response; this is a great example of the industry working together,” she said. “It’s going to Kentucky, with retailers and manufacturers at the three-day event there, and US, Dutch, German and Belgian retailers are all supporting it.
“Everyone’s seen the opportunity to forge links; the Pony Club is involved, and British Eventing — and it’s great because it’s already making people think.”
Riders are being urged to visit BETA retailers, not necessarily to buy new gear but to ensure their equipment is suitable.
“The day you buy your equipment is probably the day it fits best, as it’s been correctly fitted and adjusted,” Ms Williams said.
“If your hat gets too loose and comes over your eyes, that could cause an accident. If it’s not in the right place, it won’t protect the bits it’s supposed to protect.
“And the strap: you wouldn’t ride with the girth not done up properly so don’t ride without the hat done up properly. It’s the same with body protectors or any equipment designed to do a job, you have to use it the way it was designed for.
“We have to take responsibility for our own safety. Riding is a risk sport but it’s about mitigating that risk. It’s such a cliché but it’s true that you can replace your hat, you can’t replace your head.”
LIFE-SAVING EQUIPMENT
RIDER Katie Dickson, who credits her Helite air jacket for saving her life in a fall, agreed.
Katie and some friends had taken their own horses to stay in the Peak District for a holiday last September and as Katie bent to open a gate, for an unknown reason, her horse Joey spooked.
“He went into a blind panic,” she told H&H. “It’s so unlike him, but something happened and he tried to jump the gate.
“He ended up stuck on it, on his belly, and we had a rotational
fall. I went over his head and then he landed on top of me.”
Katie said that some five months before the accident, she had decided she wanted to wear an air jacket so her husband had bought her a Helite gilet-style vest
‘Doctors didn’t understand how every bit of me wasn’t broken’
KATIE DICKSON
for her birthday. Although she sustained multiple fractures to her pelvis and a dislocated hip, she was uninjured otherwise.
“There’s no question about it, the air jacket saved my life,” she said. “I remember thinking it was going to hurt when he shifted his weight to get up and he shattered my pelvis and caught my hip, but without the jacket, it would have been so much worse.
“All the paramedics and doctors I saw were so worried
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about spinal injuries and couldn’t understand why every bit of my body wasn’t broken. I had 650kg of horse wriggling around on top of me and not a mark on me from the waist upwards.”
After a long stay in hospital and rehab, Katie is now at the point she is nearly well enough to ride again. She was one of many riders who responded to BETA’s calls to help raise awareness as part of the safety week.
“I want to spread the word,” she said. “The more people who wear the right safety equipment, and properly, the better.”
Professional riders supporting the initiative include showjumpers Nick Skelton, Laura Kraut and Beezie Madden, eventers Harry Meade and Piggy French and dressage riders Charlotte Dujardin and Sophie Wells, while associations including the Association of British Riding Schools and the British Horse Society (BHS) are also involved.
A BHS spokesman said: “We are thrilled to support BETA Safety Week. We strongly believe riders have a responsibility to protect themselves and wear correct, up-to-standard safety equipment, including high-vis.
“In 2017 we released a report that looked into what riders can do to protect themselves on the road. It suggested that as well as high-vis gear, riders should wear LED lights.” Olympic gold medallist
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Mark