I ride hunters and recently had a minor fall over a fence and unfortunately landed just the wrong way to put a hairline fracture in a vertebra and leave me with a few weeks of sore back muscles (more painful then the vertebre!). I am now in the market for a protective vest and I am leaning toward an air vest. My tack shop started carrying the Horse Pilot Airbag vest and I am curious if anyone has experience with this vest? How does it compare to other air vests, specifically the Two Point Pro Air? I would love to see a video of the Horse Pilot inflating to see how high if comes on the neck but can’t find anything online.
Can’t offer much guidance but the people in my Barn ride in Hilete vests. Not sure if you have looked at those.
There are many threads in the eventing forum on this, one currently at the top of the list actually.
I ride with the Point Two hunter. A barn mate rides in the the new Horse Pilot.
The differences I see are:
- the Horse Pilot is sleeker and with the ability to zip into a jacket you can not look like you wear an airvest. The Point Two’s explode outwards so they always sit on the outside of what you wear.
The Horse Pilot sleeker look means that it sits closer to your body so it will be warmer to wear, especially if you zip it into a jacket, on hot days. The Point Two’s sit looser so not as hot.
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The Horse Pilot uses 4 air canisters. Point Two uses one. Look up the video to replace the Horse Pilot air canisters and it is quite an involved process. Is the 4 air canisters safer? We will not know since there is no universal standards on air vests.
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The one thing that Point Two does that I haven’t seen anyone else do is offer to service their vests. You have to get it serviced yearly if you want to keep their lifetime warranty. Point Two will disassembly your vest trigger and inspect the bladder and will replace any faulty or worn parts. For something like this I want to know that everything is working properly.
There is finally a website that carries all the vests companies in one place:
Good luck in your decision. I have been very appreciative of mine and will not ride without one.
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The British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) website has information about body protectors and air vests that might be useful to read. One thing to consider is that every manufacturer has a different design and every rider has a different shaped body. Basically, to find the best fit you need to try them on, in person.
