I sure hope she is doing better than this original update. Not certain that the helmet and vest technology is ever going to be able to prevent these kinds of injuries but I sure hope so.
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I saw a Facebook post the other day that she is back in the USA and in rehab.
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For those who are not familiar with her story, this was a pretty interesting podcast from about seven months ago.
There’s a fundraiser for help with her medical expenses.
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I’m not able to open that link at the office but I hope she continues to make good progress.
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Wonder if anyone or any org could maybe press on Samshield a bit to give in from their anti-more safety position.
They have all out refused to do more to be safer, in a number of ways. They’re content with being the most popular and view that and the hallmark that they desire most.
If folks saw how they talk about people who have purchased their helmets, you wouldn’t want to give them another dime again.
And I am not alone in knowing this. MANY folks have emailed Samshield and been shocked by what they say.
Em
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Thank you for sharing this and it is very disheartening. After going through lots of different helmets, there’s definitely fit me the best but sounds like I probably don’t want to give them any more money 
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I use the Lynx helmet. It’s ugly but been rated by the Scandinavians as the safest. I was sad to have to get rid of my First Lady helmet however. 
To be fair, helmets are mostly to protect your head from skull fractures and surface trauma. Certain technologies like MIPS are intended to reduce some of the other forces that contribute to TBIs and concussions and related injuries. But at certain point, you can get a concussion from just landing on your feet and never getting your head near the ground.
Same thing with vests. An airvest won’t work if you go down with the horse, but it might help in other situations. A traditional vest can help with certain impacts but if you end up under the horse it’s only going to do so much.
I did not see this wreck (so I’m happy to be corrected) but it sounds like the rider was flung into the jump AND the horse landed on her. That’s going to be a bad wreck no matter what brand helmet they were wearing. I always ride with a helmet (mine has MIPS), and I’m considering a vest. But I’m aware that having XYZ gear is not a guarantee that I’ll be free of injury.
(Samshield gives me the ick though as well. Even if your product IS the safest and the best, it won’t be so forever and good companies continue to improve.)
I’m jingling for a good recovery. That’s a scary, scary accident.
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Is an air vest supposed to help you if you end up under the horse? That also sounds like a big ask to me.
An air vest only works if you are separated enough from your horse to pull the pin out and allow it to deploy. I’m not sure how much a traditional vest would help you in that situation, but requires no deployment.
I’m aware.
But I can imagine a situation where you might fall off the horse and then have the horse land and roll over you if you were unlucky enough.
I’m not sure if anything can help much if your horse lands on you, unfortunately.
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Well, maybe only marginally more than a regular vest. I wasn’t stating that the airvest WOULD help in that situation - I was stating a situation in which a traditional vest would not offer much protection. I’m sorry if that was not clear!
Exactly. A traditional vest offers certain types of protection if you go down with the horse that an airvest cannot provide due to the need for deployment. A deployed air vest provides certain types of protection by design that a traditional vest cannot.
This is why understanding what a piece of equipment does, as well as what it does NOT do, is critical to making gear choices. I think there’s a bit of a misconception in the general public that a helmet should prevent ALL brain injuries… if you pick the “right” one. (This isn’t aimed at anyone in particular, just a comment.) This just isn’t true. As above, you can get a concussion by landing on your feet or any other number of ways without hitting your head!
I also think there’s a lot of debate about air vests around what happens if they are deployed AFTER you are on the ground (as would be the case if horse and rider go down together and the horse gets up first). This is not helped by the lack of good research, but MOST riders are more likely to fall off due to a stop or a spook-and-spin vs a rotational crash or something where the whole horse goes down.
Lastly, I think there is a tendency to try to rationalize “that couldn’t happen to ME because I made XYZ choice” when we see something like this happen. Unfortunately, you cannot choose your way out of every risk - even living in a bubble in a padded room has health risks!
I don’t think that’s what anyone here was doing, but I feel like a lot of these discussions around accidents get bogged down in what gear/training/conditioning/purchase choices that person made. There is value in trying to understand what went wrong and how such accidents can be avoided in the future, but there is no way to pick the perfect horse, footing, jump poles, helmet, prep routine, and environment to prevent an accident from happening. Which is the tone I see popping up a lot - though more on other platforms than COTH (remember the discussion on the tragic accident where a horse tripped in a line and a child died? A lot of talk on helmet brands and footing that went well into “just do THIS different and it could never happen to you”.)
Anyway. This got long and wasn’t aimed at anyone here. I really hope to hear good updates from this rider - it can happen to anyone.
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There was a post on Facebook a few years ago from somebody who had that happen to her, and there was discussion on here about it as well.
The horse went down with her still on it, and then when the horse got up and the vest deployed, there was some thought that the air canister got jammed into her ribs or something and broke them.
I don’t remember the exact details now, but it was certainly a bit of an eye opener about the air vests.
I think the other thing people don’t necessarily realize about the air vests is it seems like sometimes people land and can’t move very easily because the vest either knocked the wind out of them or has them almost stuck like turtles on their backs while it is inflated.
So if you were in a situation where you were trying to scramble out of the way of the horse, the vest might impede your progress.
Just more things to think about with those vests.
I’ve had my air vest deploy twice in the past 7 years. Once it saved me from a broken neck according to the ER doctor. It did not affect my ability to move at all, it’s just bulk around your torso and neck and feels strange. People look awkward because of the bulk. The second time, it actually protected by ribs because I landed on the canister side and felt no pain during or after. I don’t think much can protect a rider when a 1000+ horse falls on top of them but I would be very skeptical about any stories claiming the canister broke ribs. Just my thoughts.
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In the above story, the vest deployed after the fall when the horse got up because the initial fall did not separate the rider enough, so the rider may have fallen on the canister without the airbag inflated. But honestly, falling hard and fast due to a horse going down can break ribs without anything extra to fall on. Ask me how I know!
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I have an air vest and my bigger concern is that the noise would spook the horse and lead to them reacting in such a way that I’m in harm’s way. The hope is they run from the noise, but I could see an otherwise casual fall, rider lands on their feet or butt and then the noise causes the horse to kick out or step on them.
I have a very safe grandma horse who babysits me and hasn’t cared about the noise. I’d ridden her while a truck backfired, people raced fancy cars, thunder echoing in the indoor arena and snow fell off the roof, so I felt comfortable with her. If I were to ride something else, I think I’d be a bit more cautious.
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I’ve seen horses who definitely seemed to react to the noise.
I’m sure there are horses who would not care about it, but I think it would be hard to predict exactly what they might do.
