I agree, sadly it is all “for the likes” these days isn’t it.
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@JER that one study I posted a few pages back has the death list until 2005 and lists the cause of death (crush, head trauma etc).
I think they do have a case here if they wanted to sue, the fence is the exact same style that Phillipa Humphreys died at. I’m sure there is a good lawyer out there who could do a lot with that fact alone.
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Could you repost or give me a few hints so I can search for it? Scrolling back through 38 pages is something I’d like to avoid.
Thanks.
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Thanks.
Looks like approx 85% of those 59 deaths are crush injuries. The others appear to be head injuries in which horse did not fall on rider.
There’s your answer. Mandate a device that protects from crush injuries to the torso.
Not doing so is just plain stupid.
28 drivers have been killed in NASCAR. None since 2001. None since the adoption of the HANS.
Funny isn’t it how a sport enjoyed by rednecks and yahoos (friends, I’m making a sarcastic generalization here!) does more to protect its participants than an upscale equestrian sport like eventing.
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I am one of those redneck, yahoos 
Talking about just mandating the HANS in NASCAR is only part of the ‘solution’. The internal roll cage in the cars has evolved. The driver’s seat has evolved. The driver’s helmet has evolved. The airflow in and around the car has been studied and changes made to try to keep the cars on the ground and not become airborne. The tracks themselves have spent a small fortune installing SAFER barriers around, at all tracks, the complete outer barrier and, at most tracks, most/all of the inner barrier (outer barriers initially, over time inner barriers).
Last month at the Daytona 500, Ryan Newman (#6) was in a seemingly horrific crash. Screen were put up during his extrication from the car. NASCAR, Roush-Fenway and Ryan have all declined to say anything about his injuries. But, he was able to walk out of the hospital a few days later and was at Phoenix this last weekend for his first visit to a track. All the safety implementations, IMO, did their job.
The HANS did not work in a vacuum but in concert with all the other safety changes I mentioned above.
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WmW, I’m using the HANS as an example because the parallels are more direct to the EXO.
Pre-RIP Dale Earnhardt, the HANS was too bulky, restricted movement, blah blah blah. Like the EXO is too heavy, won’t fit, will cause hyperventilation, blah blab blah.
Eventing has adopted other changes too but for my purposes, I’m talking about wearables.
ETA: even on here, people are saying the EXO is not the solution as if a device that prevents crush injuries and blunt force trauma is not a solution to a sport in which 85% of fatalities are due to crush injuries and blunt force trauma.
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The HANS has evolved to become less bulky because, in part, of the changes to both the seat/headrest and helmet. Very few drivers had any sort of head area protection offered by the seat. Most, not all, wore full face helmets. The HANS can now afford to be less bulky because of the helmet and seat. So, two ‘wearables’ and one partly ‘wearable’ (the seat 
).
Riding, the rider is pretty exposed on top of the horse… not much available for protection other than what the rider wears. In a race car, many opportunities for safety (whether taken or not) as the driver is surrounded by the seat and car.
Do I ride now, no. I think rider/horse safety should be a combination of things the rider can wear in conjunction with understanding why things like rotation falls occur and modifying jumps to minimize the chance that the horse will be in that rotational fall (just one example).
Keeping things as safe as possible is what is important. Driving 200+mph in a 3200lb car or riding a 1000lb horse at speed over an undulating, variable terrain and jumping significant jumps are both risky. As safe as possible and continuing study and research so safety continues to evolve is important.
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Changes to tracks are effectively changes in infrastructure. It seems the closest equivalent in eventing is addressing fence design. I’m not commenting one way or the other on effectiveness of these changes - just pointing out that infrastructure change is on the radar of TPTB wrt safety but personal safety devices (HANS) equivalent) are not. What would results have been If all of the track changes were made but mandatory HANS not instituted?
nanotechnology roll cages for horse and rider not likely in my lifetime
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I just wanted to give an update after I contacted the WW team. WoofWear’s first response when I told them that, “Due to recent events…was wondering if there was an internal discussion to bring back the EXO…I was among some in the sport intrigued and discussing this…I would buy it if It came on the market”
Response 1. WW was unaware this discussion was occurring but would send my inquiry to the production team
I followed up that I believed I other riders in the industry were proactively seeking to be safer, etc. etc.
Response 2. We’re currently all in the office and our team is small, so your request has already been forwarded to management.
I’d definitely encourage anyone to reach out to the team should they want to bring back this product. (I’m not supporting that this is the solution, just for those interested in the actual EXO, sending messages to their production team. They’re not so big that a private message will go to some un-read cloud box.)
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Ok, I’m going to throw something out here, bear in mind: dressage rider, and bear in mind #2: this would definitely not be the ONLY solution but could maybe help.
Disclaimer #3: I really am just hypothesizing here.
I’ve been thinking about this since early last week but it was re-enforced when I randomly binged Netflix’s documentary Cheer this weekend. My neighbors kid is in competitive Cheer and I was really introduced to what the sport really is, vs the ideal I had in my head (think high school football games) that it was when I went to one of her competitions last year.
So we watched all of the teams go, and then when they gathered on the mat for placings, before they announced the actual placings they announced, and publicly rewarded, all of the teams who “Hit Zero.”
Which essentially - correct me if I mess this up - rewards teams who have no major mistakes, safety infractions, or misses in their tumbling and, especially, their stunting.
It sounded in the Netflix Documentary that there may also be penalty points awarded for teams who don’t Hit
Zero.
So what if Eventing adopted a similar idea for XC? Make “Hitting Zero” - getting through the course with no major mistakes (not just runouts/falls/etc, but even a missed distance the horse managed to save), no major safety infractions (near misses, being out of control on course, etc) - as much of a goal people want to reach as making time.
What if riders who get through safe and clean, but maybe over time, get their time penalties cut in half? Or reduced by 2 pts? What if riders who are clearly out of control, have a near miss, etc, get 5 penalty points? or 10?
An award - like a door prize - that all riders who “hit zero” get their name put in for?
It could slow down level creep, possibly. It could make people consciously care about going clean - not just clear and fast. It could, maybe, start a cultural shift towards safety.
I don’t quite know how it could be judged, or how to make it not overly subjective, but… maybe drones following riders and reviewed real time by one or two qualified officials on screen. There’d be some cost for equipment and technology, but…
Just thinking out loud. I don’t know if it would be implementable or even work, but, it’s a thought.
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I apologize if I missed this but do you mind sharing the email address you sent your inquiry to? I’m a lower level rider but would happily splurge on this vest if they were to bring it back!
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Agree 100%. And ongoing research and improvement should be driven by permanent safety working groups at the national and FEI levels.
ETA: I don’t think bringing back the EXO as it existed is the solution. If it failed to sell once, I don’t see it selling now without improvements. Improvements to comfort and fit specifically, since that seems to be the most detracting feature.
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I’m guessing that the evolutions to the HAN were driven by the fact that it was mandated to be in use so there was no getting around it, only improving it. I’d also venture to guess that from what has been described about the small size of Woofwear, that they wouldn’t be able to foot the bill for further iterations without significant rider and official support. NASCAR got behind the HANS and basically told drivers they needed to work with developers.
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Another hand up here.
#woofwear
#bringbacktheEXO
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Sorry if this was already brought up - I can’t recall - but does USEF/USEA even mandate vests that meet up-to-date safety standards? Equestrian Canada only recently made it a rule that riders wear vests that meet BETA / ASTM standards.
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You are correct, the HANS had to be mandated.
I do enjoy seeing all the cognitive dissonance about the EXO. Oh the excuses and the attempts at reasoned rejection!
Look, I don’t care if it it’s the EXO specifically. What eventing needs is a passive safety device that can protect riders from the massive crush/blunt force trauma that causes 85% of deaths in the sport.
Call it whatever you want. Call it the not-EXO. Who cares?
Just design it, test it and mandate it.
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No. Not even required to meet ASTM or SEI, much less BETA 3.
“The Federation recommends that the vest should pass or surpass the current ASTM standard F1937 or be certified by the Safety Equipment Institute”
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Yeah, NASCAR got behind the HANS device but only after 3 deaths in 9 months… Adam Petty in May 2000, Kenny Irwin Jr in July 2000, and, the big “driver” (in more than one way) Dale Earnhardt Sr in February, 2001.
Until Dale Earnhardt Sr, the HANS was not mandated. All 3 of these drivers died of basilar skull fractures (what the HANS is primarily intended to prevent).
If Dale Sr had not died, how long before NASCAR would have mandated the HANS? How many more drivers might have died?
In the case of the HANS, it makes me sad that NASCAR had a device but did not mandate until after DE Sr died. Action, IMO, should have been taken by NASCAR sooner. Adam and Kenny’s deaths should have had as much impact to NASCAR as did Dale’s, but NASCAR did nothing 
Full face helmets were not mandated until after DE’s death.
NASCAR has, in some ways, a much more visible sport than eventing. Eventing has a much larger participant pool than NASCAR (including all their national and regional series). I don’t know enough about Eventing to know what their “equivalent” is of NASCAR (the sport sanctioning body). I don’t know what the eventing drivers need to be but maybe riders should be stepping up to the plate demanding better torso protection, supporting jump designs that minimize/remove rotational risk. I dunno.
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Well that’s just ridiculous. People are dying, but lets just say they can use whatever vest they want whether or not it’s actually up to standards.
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