British Eventing update on Exo BodyCage

What? PhoenixFarm is 6 feet tall with a long torso and D cups. What is unusual about that? There are plenty of equestrians taller and/or broader than that.

You seem to think that the fit statements are specious. Heck, RAyers is not large or tall for a dude and he had to modify his to get it to fit. You seem incapable of admitting it has some real fit issues.

@JER what size is yours? There is one on eBay its an A4. I am same height as you but not as tiny
 I want to buy this thing if it will maybe fit.

I think there is definitely something to explore with the vest though, can we make improvements? Convince Woof Wear to go a bit further in their design?

ETA: found the sizing. For anyone who hasn’t see it here it is; https://www.vtosaddlery.com/product/WWEBP.htm

More on what happened to the company; http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/exo-bodycage-body-protector-faces-an-uncertain-future-267628

Video that RAyers is referring to. (You might have to click the “Activate Adobe Flash” button in order to get the thing to play.)

http://web.archive.org/web/20080821182529/http://www.bodycage.co.uk/

The scary part is that it’s not even that big of a jump. Just goes to show rotational falls can happen at any level and any fence type.

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I have an A3. I’m very narrow but 172m in height. I would think an A4 would fit you if you have a wider ribcage/chest.

Did the horse actually land on the rider? To me it looked like it landed mostly on the turf but the angle is hard to see. I would imagine even with a body cage like that you would have some leg and head or arm injuries?

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JER, PhoenixFarm wrote that she is 6’ tall, has a long torso and D cups. Not that she is an “unusual” shape. She said the fitter laughed at her and told her there was no way it would fit because of her size, perhaps because the only sizes available are weirdly small and not that she (and I) are weirdly big?

I consider that a fairly normal size for an equestrian that should be fairly easily covered by basic equipment. Note RAyers is, IIRC, not particularly large or tall and his did not fit either without modification, based on his past posts. If it doesn’t fit many women and doesn’t fit many men, it isn’t fair to conclude it was rejected it out of hand for the bad faith reasons you list.

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fordtraktor, let me represent to you what PhoenixFarm wrote:

When someone describes their build/size as a ‘crazy long torso’, their use of the word ‘crazy’ would seem to indicate that they are acknowledging that their torso measurement is so long as to not fit the parameters of ‘average’ or even slightly longer than average or even just plain old ‘long’. ‘Crazy long’ means, to me, that they are very much on the on the long side of long.

If ‘crazy long’ means something different to you - and I seem to be having far too many discussions of semantics on this thread - can you please post what that is? I’m a writer by profession and do a lot of editing work that involves using clear language. Accordingly, I would like to be aware of alternate meanings of ‘crazy long’ in case I come across the term again.

FWIW, I thought PhoenixFarm’s post and opinion was entirely reasonable. She wanted to try it; she wasn’t within the fit range.

I never said anything about bad faith. Not sure where you get that.

As I’ve said before, I take a middling size - A3 - in the EXO. It fits me, it has fit others who’ve tried it on. It is not the biggest nor the smallest size in the range. There are two larger sizes and two smaller sizes. I assume the smaller ones are aimed at children, which would be smart since children do ride. I’m narrower than the average person but also taller than average so when I’m described here as ‘tiny’, I’m narrow but between 5’7" and 5’8" in height.

I brought up the weight issue because I never heard anything about fit problems in the UK but heard constantly about the weight of the EXO. Yet no one mentioned weight here, so I thought I should share that info. In terms of eventing safety, I didn’t think weight was a very compelling reason not to the wear the EXO and I still don’t. As for fit, I don’t think anyone is telling you to wear it if it doesn’t fit you, as with helmets. But it’s also true that a well-fitting conventional foam protector is not going to offer you the same level of protection as an EXO. Foam is soft, the cage is rigid.

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@JER, I am an attorney by profession so also used to parsing words. I have taught writing at a top 25 university. I earn my living interpreting meaning.

When I tried the EXO, I did not find the torso height issue to be the barring determinant
it is the circumference that causes the issues for taller but average framed people.

The size chart indicates the largest size the EXO can accommodate is 37 inches at the chest. That eliminates a substantial portion of the population. This article, like many others, indicates the average bra size in the US is a 34 DD. A woman with a bust size of 37 inches, the max of an EXO, is a 34C. So the EXO is designed so that the largest size fits less than the average bust size of an American woman.

thus, the fitter laughed at a woman who showed up hoping to fit her 6’ tall, thus likely more than 34 inch, Ds in an EXO. Because she is a fairly normal size, but not compatible with this device. Like me, a 36C.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.medic
365516%3famp=1

i believe you posted before about being a size 0-2, which makes you very narrow. Please correct me if I misremembered that. But if so, you fitting in the middle size should be a red flag for its general applicability.

Also, I posted a video of myself, heavier than I was when the EXO didn’t fit. Do I appear to be unusually large? you have never addressed my complaints. ETA: the mare in that video is 15 hands.

i agree the weight of the device objection is short sighted.

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Random question - if the middle size of five sizes fits a person who wears a size 0-2, was the market this item originally designed for racing? Because that seems tiny for the middle size of something designed for adults.

@JER I will be blunt. Some of your posts here read to me as being very disgruntled at anyone who dares to say anything less than positive about this particular item. You are saying that was not your intent, which I will believe. I am just saying that might be why you are getting the reaction you are getting.

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Out of curiosity, how do you personally find the weight “hangs” when you wear it? I wouldn’t want to wear an 8 pound backpack on course, for instance, but as this is in “cage” form, perhaps the distribution makes it less noticeable? I suppose I’m asking where you feel it most. I’m guessing shoulders?

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It hangs and distributes the weight quite well. I’d say you definitely feel it on your shoulders
 I’m a wuss and tire easily, so I don’t wear it when we showjump (e.g. when it’s D-SJ-XC). I do wear it when I gallop as I find it’s good for strength conditioning on my part!

Marigold, would it be helpful to you if I put a short photo set up on my Instagram showing the more important aspects of how the EXO fits and what it looks like? The images would probably provide more clarity than a verbal description.

Let me know what specifics you’d like to see (I’ll show the allen pocket and markings, too) and I’ll try to accommodate.

:slight_smile:

Yes, that would be great (and thank you to @FrittSkritt for the helpful response as well)! Hm. I’m curious about how you get in and out of it for sure (do you need a second person?) and how far you can bend while wearing it. Honestly, anything close-up showing a human inside of it would be helpful. The pic of RAyers was good, but from a distance so it’s tough to see. I really do wish they had any near me - at the very least I’d love to try one on one day. I know this will take time, thank you for the offer :slight_smile:

I also would be thrilled to see this! I’m interested in both the suspension and how it comes on and off. Thank you!

FWIW, there were also (at least) “short” versions of these that had an “S” appended to the size listed. I’ve only ever seen them in the UK, but they’re out there. (
and ebay is everywhere!)

AFAIK, British sizes are quite different from American ones when body fit is the question. Americans, at least in the past, have tended to be much heftier, and by that I mean height as well as breadth, than Brits (or Europeans), and it’s not uncommon for Brit size range to never come close to the top end of the average American–at least that’s been my personal experience.

Perhaps that’s why the EXO, a British product, didn’t fit Americans well. ??

I can do this tomorrow.

Ok, everyone who’s interested, please let me know what you’d like to see with the EXO and I’ll do my best.

:slight_smile:

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Actually, the average Brit is the same height as the average American. (5’95"/5’45") but is, on average 9 lbs lighter, as per Wikipedia, FWIW.

I second this.

I want one in the worst way though I doubt I could wear anything other than a “short” version (very short waisted w/boobs).