Are you planning on wearing under or over a show jacket?
Likely over a show jacket when showing, but over a normal top when schooling.
I can see how that would be! BUT, I wonder how bad it would have been if I hadn’t had my vest on? I landed almost flat on my back. I can’t imagine it would’ve been better to not have it? Like I’ll take a compound fracture over being in a wheelchair the rest of my life kind of a thing. I can’t imagine I would’ve been unscathed sans vest.
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I’m a true medium and have a medium.
I’ve had an air vest, the helite, for over five years now. I wear it primarily because I have a concussion history and I want the neck roll to inflate to stabilize my head if/when I fall. That’s why I chose this vest - at the time, it had the fullest neck roll.
I have “used” it once, when my horse bucked and launched me. I landed mostly on my back. I was lucky to walk away with an injury just below the bottom of the vest (I wish it were a bit longer but the sizing is limited). Knock on wood, I seem to only come off from enthusiastic bucking, so it’s well suited for that kind of fall.
I wear it every single ride. It’s not even noticeable in the heat. I attach the tether to the bucking strap on my saddle, which has clips on both ends so it’s easy to unclip and move to another saddle. I see George’s comment about d rings, which is a good one. I may have to rethink my system.
As I am now rehabbing my mare, I am particularly grateful I have one. Cold, windy days plus heat cycles starting back up, plus medical paddock turnout only makes for a spicier ride that normal. It doesn’t make me stupid, but it does help me be more confident. As part of the over 40 crowd, it seems like it doesn’t take much to get injured anymore, so I’m happy for the extra insurance.
This thread is actually very timely for me. I also have a Tipperary, which I kinda forgot about because it’s not part of my routine. I think I will start using that in addition to my vest for my rehab rides!
Note I ride dressage, so less risky than jumping, but a fall is a fall. Much like you wear your car seatbelt every time you get in the car, it’s there for when you need it, even if you hope you never do.
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If the vest is too tight it can make your show coat bunch up a little. In my experience, a XS Helite fits those wearing a 0 or 2 RJ jacket (over the jacket) or a 4, maybe 6 Charles Ancona (over). So that is pretty much a true XS.
I’ll also say that I feel like the footing has changed dramatically and the impact of the fall is much harder on the rider these days. Although I do love a good GGT footing for base support for my horses, falling off in it… no bueno. Feels like there’s barely any give. It’s a thud as opposed to the softer, sandy plops of yesteryear. That alone had changed my perspective of why I would and did buy one.
It’s also my suspicion why we may be seeing more back injuries, tailbones, collarbones, and head.
It seemed like before you saw a lot more people having injuries with wrists or ankles as they tried to catch themselves on the fall (I am guilty of one of those as a teenager… fell off and fell on my wrist and fractured it)… or getting run over… or smacking their head against a fence post or jump. Now it’s just general falls that seem to be showing a greater depth of concussion and impact injuries. Just my $.02.
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That’s an interesting idea.
I have to say I still really notice how much more you hear the horses cantering across the surface on the newer footing. It sounds so hard.
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I will say that I’ve seen a lot less horses fall down like the days of the old sand arenas where they could get stuck at takeoff or landing if it wasn’t groomed properly or draining right (or just generally got stuck)… but because of the way that those rings drain water and are dragged, the actual concussion when you hit the ground definitely feels much harder. Sadly, I know this on more than 1 occasion.
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I work in spine research that includes spine biomechanics, your neurologist is spot on.
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So is it just the Air Vests that have this spinal danger or do the foam vests also cause this problem?
Summer is coming and I cannot handle the extra heat from the foam vests so I just ride with my ice vest that has no cushioning effect. I was toying with the idea of an air vest but since my memory is truly awful from my MS I was afraid I would end up in the poor house from having to buy many cartridges when I repeatedly forgot to unhook the air vest.
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I’m unfortunately familiar with that mindset among certain trainers/clinicians and find it ridiculous as well. I’ve personally never met a single person who rode carelessly because of their safety gear (there may be some out there, but I doubt many, and definitely not the majority). If anything, it is usually those who forego it altogether who tend to do this and assume all will be fine!
I just think it’s crazy that any trainer or clinician would forbid their students from wearing protective gear, too. If they don’t want to wear it, fine, but what right do they have to insist others don’t? It irks me to no end and is just incredibly irresponsible, not to mention possibly a liability as well!
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I’m toying with the idea of asking for one of these for my B-day, due to my young mare who is going to be VERY challenging to get out hacking alone.
It’s the alone part that makes me want a vest. I’m not worried about coming off (well, as much as you can be “not worried” when you’ve got one with a duck-spin you’re working through), but if I am incapacitated who will catch her and untack her, who will drive my rig back to the barn, etc etc. That’s my worry.
I do have a foam vest (Airowear outlyne) and I’m very heat tolerant. I’ve worn it on trail rides in the past. I just don’t know if that’s enough.
I think, based on comments here, I will wait for a little more research, and wear the foam vest for now.
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We found it completely ridiculous! But said nothing. We were there for the entertainment value only, And in a free world, people are allowed to make poor decisions about who to listen to. The farm owner however did sign up for the week long course at some expense in how to break your own horse, using his methods… so that is coming up in April for her. We are wondering if she is gonna survive it. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t. If she doesn’t, the insurance situation may well be interesting.
Because the lack of safety gear was not the only questionable issue we were treated to in the exhibition, IMO. But opinions are like arseholes, everyone’s got one.
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There is a barn local to us that has had riders wearing the hit air vests on their own for years. My issue with it is not if people wear it or not, but continuing to wear an old vest that has not been properly maintained. ie serviced as recommended by the manufacturer. I feel like regardless of what you’re wearing, if it is past its lifespan (XC type vest that is too old) or air vest that hasn’t been serviced to make sure it is functioning at its best, you’re really not doing yourself a whole lot of good.
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Not to wear an air vest or one of the foam vests?
Apologies, it’s not clear.
The rider that it happened to was a hunter rider and she did make a bit of a point about it. However, much like your air bag in your car might bruise your face or break your nose… I’ll take a bruised or broken rib over a broken back or a spinal injury any day. It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot less long-term damage.
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Any vest that restricts flexion of the spine to absorb impact. In the military, ceramic body armor and other bulletproof/explosion proof vests result in back injuries and spine fractures because it is the body being thrown and then landing rigid.
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Thank you!
This will save me a lot of money since I won’t have to replace the cartridges.
It also gives me an important criteria for the next time I have to buy a protective vest. I will be flexing the spinal covering of the vests.
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Actually the airbag in your car is the exact reason I won’t wear an air vest. The airbag in your car is deflating as you hit it so it softens the impact. If it stayed inflated when you made contact with it it in an accident it would increase the likelihood of injury as it is literally a collision with a rigid obstacle just like the air vests are.
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