Something that has been mentioned to me by several with experience with a vest is the accidents that are not in the show ring or over a jump . Example - horse tripped on the horse path and went down -
How many falls that we hear that are not doing the Grand Prix ?
Motorcycle falls are low angle glancing blows whereas horse falls are high angle direct blows. Again, speed has less to do with it. There is a reason a MotoGP rider can low side at 225mph and walk away whereas a rider can fall and hit their head or butt and fracture the spine.
There is a reason why expert epidemiologists did this work both within the FEI and through an independent university. They could look at all the variables collected and were not biased by a singular concept of speed. They also understand the use of statistical methods to account for all the variables collected.
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I tried the Helite and like it (and definitely like the look better for horse showing!) but I ended up buying the Hit Air. I overheat very, very easily and it is by far the most ventilated vest Iāve encountered. Itās definitely cooler than the Helite and just about the same weight. Iām back showing in the hunters and equitation more, so Iāll likely buy a Helite for showing, but for the jumpers and everyday riding, I am a huge fan of my Hit Air!
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I am not sure this would matter as much as youāre suggesting. People rarely fall off horses over a jump or related to the height of the jump - they fall because of stops, spooks, and bucks. Sudden changes in momentum. You can fall dangerously on the flat. Iāve seen a girl taken away in a helicopter with a broken neck after she fell on her butt barrel racing, she just slid off when the horse turned faster than she was ready for. Iāve even seen a horse bolt and have a rotational fall on a 2ā6" hunter course.
We all want this to work. We all want to be safe. I really appreciate the work RAyers and others are doing to make sure the equipment we think and hope is safety equipment actually is improving our safety.
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Yes, horses can spin. Spook. Dirty stop. Yes, you can go flying and land on your head. Back. Tailbone. Yes, you can fall off over a jump (if you get left behind over a gappy long). Yes, there are situations where horses collide at high speed. The worst accident I ever saw was a pony t-boning another pony in a warmup ring. Horrific incident. I donāt think anyone has argued that these things donāt happen. We also all know (or I would hope) that the physics of all these various accidents differ significantly. A barrel racer sliding off at high speed is different than a horse who stumbles and falls which is different than a spook. We all get that.
I also donāt think anyone on here expects a vest to protect them from a fall on their head or tailbone.
I think we all agree that more research is needed. I think we also all understand that protective equipment is continuously evolving and that third party peer reviewed published research donāt happen overnight.
I also think we also need a solution to protect tailbones and a better helmet solution. Iām sure there is someone working on that I a research lab somewhere, funded by a major safety manufacturer. Or at least we can all hope.
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Thank you @Punkie for this post.
I am VERY intolerant of heat (I have MS, heat cripples me even further.) I wear a Tipperary Eventing protective vest as long as I can, but then it just gets too darn hot and I trade it for my ice vest which does not protect me much at all.
I would LOVE to find a protective vest that lets me use my ice vest and protects my torso at the same time. This one looks like a possibility, either way I can probably use it for all but the hottest and most humid days of summer (Iām in NC.)
Thank you again, from one heat intolerant rider to another.
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I donāt really have a lot of feelings about the air vests but the noise scares the crap out of me and spooks the rest of the horses in the arena usually. I actually had someone fall with the air vest on and the noise spooked another horse and caused another person to fall lol. Also kids forget to unclip them before they get off and that causes horses to bolt while dismounting. Seen people in other situations where theyāre in trouble and maybe would normally dismount but they canāt really handle the horse and unclip at the same time.
Iām not really a fan personally because of all of that stuff but I donāt know the research so I also never discourage anyone from buying them I just deal with the chaos lol
Hi All and (@woops 
),
My name is Catherine Winter and Iām the owner of Ride EquiSafe. We specialize in equestrian safety products, including air vests, body protectors, safety stirrups, and MIPS helmets. We carry the broadest selection of air vests available in North America, which allows us to be brand agnostic and get our clients into the most appropriate equipment for their needs and type.
Iām happy to answer any questions anyone might have about protective equipment. Feel free to DM me!
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The air vests are wonderful. The only drawback that I have found is that they can become quite warm. Dreading the summer with them! Probably wonāt wear in flat classesā¦Good luck!
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Hi - i am a card carrying epidemiologist (tenured faculty in Epi Dpt at major university) and would like to see the references on this. I have been riding in a regular safety vest now (tipperary) but feel like a turtle and have been planning to upgrade to an air vest. There was a horrific accident at the show jumping barn i just left recently (but tragically traumatic brain injury) and 3 cases of broken ribs from falls with and without regular vests in the past year (including my horse stepping on my friend). I donāt jump high or event - more the hunter low and slow as described. But i know many accidents happen with freak occurrences like spooks and slips as mentioned not only over the big jumps. So i would like to review this literature and look at the generalizability of the FEI study. It may be that vests do not help those competitive riders jumping huge but the vast majority of riders are not doing this and may gain benefit. The types of falls issue reasonates - but there may be bias as those who end up in the ER or on the table may be those - it may be that the falls where the vest worked and is protective are not included in the analyses. Classic example of bias and unrepresentative analyses. Now i donāt know that is what was done in the cited study but to truly evaluate this you have to use as your sample those using the vests and then look at injury rates for them prospectively - using those with hospitalized injuries as the sample is a different kind of analysis. And if those need to be case-control to be valid which are hard to do right. So iād like to know if there are studies done with broader samples - would require riders using vests and not using vests to be followed over time. Anyone want me to run it 
? Would you mind please pointing to the references mentioned - in pub med? European studies? I found this thread as i started shopping for air vests and really appreciate the civilized tone among those who disagree and productive discussion. 
The goal is to advance safety among all types of riders and even if not all serious injuries are prevented by vests if some are that would be so important. We canāt wear bubble wrap!
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Iāve been involved with motorcycle roadracing most of my life, and raced myself for about 10 years.
Yes, a ālowsideā is a low angle glancing blow (as long as you donāt hit the Armco or haybales).
But a āhighsideā throws the rider into the air, and results in a high angle direct blow.
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