Really curious to know if anyone knows of any studies the prove you are safer when wearing an air vest?
(British terminology: the rigid vests = “body protector” and the inflatable vests = “air vests”).
The British Equestrian Trade Association (www.beta-org.uk) established safety standards for body protectors in conjunction with many and varied experts, to meet EU test criteria and these are evident in the widely recognised BETA lables seen on body protectors. There is also a separate standard for shoulder pads. All is explained on the BETA website. By contrast, as yet there is no agreed standard for Air Vests though BETA and manufacturers have apparently been working on one for some time. So most test data is from individual companies and the other evidence is anecdotal. BE collect information about Air Vests on Fall Report Forms so there is evidence of more people using them, for what that is worth. Have a look at https://www.medequestrian.co.uk for a useful summery.
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There is one standard out there SATRA M38: Issue 3 Feb 2015. I can’t say it is a good standard or not, more knowledgeable people will have to give their opinion. But there is no standard that has been approved by any Equestrian Federation. The British BETA standards seems to be the most stringent out there so I would default to them, but they do not have an air vest standard.
I ride with an air vest and from my personal experience it has saved me from being sidelined for any length of time.
This article summarizes some of the research and guidance as of 8/19:
The major surprise is that they did find a correlation between air vest use and serious injuries in one study. But, important to note it’s not a randomized trial, and doesn’t take into account that air vest wearers may have a history or greater likelihood of serious mishap, be riding trickier or greener horses, at a higher level, etc etc.
In the h/j world, where these have become much more common, there’s no study-confirmed benefit, and a lot of confusion about what they actually protect you from, fwiw.
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Nope, there isn’t. At least 2 recent fatalities the riders were wearing air vests. So while they may cushion light falls, they don’t add any more protection than a regular vest for serious falls in my opinion.
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I have both Hit-Air and Tipp vests – and I am not doing anything challenging – just recovering from open heart surgery and at age 66, coming off is bound to break something, so why not?
The Tipp vest is very hot in warm weather, whereas with the Hit-Air, I forget I have it on.
You are likely safer than not wearing a vest at all, which was my logic for getting Hit-Air after I already had Tipperary.
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I love my hit air. I tend to grab the reins and roll on my back. The back of my head has never touched the ground and my neck is cradled. Will it protect from everything? NO, not even close but for my silly roll off the shoulder self, I don’t even get a bruise.
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I got an air vest after watching someone literally bounce off the ground and walk away without a bruise after a fall at a cross country fence. Then after watching my horse’s hoof bounce off my air vest instead of my abdomen or rib cage (in a freak accident that resulted in us falling together and him kicking me while trying to get up), I was convinced of its benefit. My friend had a very similar situation and ended up with internal bleeding (she was wearing a body protector but not an air vest). I was quite surprised it actually deployed as I didn’t really separate from the horse - I think it went off when he rolled off me, and yet still managed to provide significant protection.
As a scientist, I fully recognize this is an anecdote, not research, but still enough to convince me it is worth wearing one even if it doesn’t add a benefit in all situations. The majority of my falls are likely to be the ones where bouncing, rather than landing with a thud, would be really nice!
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The COTH magazine has an interesting anecdotal article about air vests this month.
My anecdotal air vest story is that I once saw someone be very gently and slowly dumped over their horse’s neck when it stopped and peeked at a fence. I would have said it was a fall anyone would have walked away from (put an arm out, helped themself down to the ground) but it triggered the air bag. The explosive force of the air bag going off was so compressive that it immediately retriggered the rider’s pre-existing back issue. They could barely limp from the ring and they (a grown adult) were crying and gasping until we could get the vest off. As someone with pre-existing issues that make it easy for my joints to subluxate with very little force? Nah. I’m good.
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Should add that the last time I personally met the ground, I fell with my horse, just like the rider in the article. That was why I never joined the early air vest craze. I knew darn well an air vest would have ****ed me up on that fall.
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One problem I’ve observed with air vests is that people do not adjust them to fit correctly.
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I know that if this many people cared enough about their sport in a way that didn’t show their elitist economic diversity and delt more with problem resolution we’d be finding ourself in a different discussion.
It doesnt stop young, green, inexperienced riders from getting hurt while they play in the UL, doing things like running their horse in chest high grass to slow them down.
So, do they work? They might. When used over a body protector and fitted by a professional. My fear is they give an added and inflated sense of safety and the vests do nothing to deal with rotational falls and rider deaths, they just give the average ammy or young rider a sense of safety
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