Safety through suitable equipment
Horseback riding is not a harmless sport that can also lead to accidents.
Horses are flight animals that often react unexpectedly to something (e.g. birds flying away, careless movements, sudden noise). Even the rider who rides the horse, or the riding instructor who stands in the riding hall or leads the horse on the lunge, sometimes cannot prevent the horse from making a jump or suddenly running faster than it should. However, if a rider should fall from the horse, this does not mean that injuries are inevitable.
Also the handling of horses can be dangerous, so it is essential to do everything possible to avoid dangerous situations and therefore possible accidents.
In order to avoid accidents, the correct equipment of horse and rider must be ensured.
The correct equipment of the rider consists of:
- Helmet obligation when riding. The helmet must comply with certain standards, fit perfectly and, if necessary, must be put on while riding.
- Wearing a crash vest is obligatory for racing, eventing, marathon, etc. The safety vest must also comply with certain standards.
- Wear sturdy, closed shoes (with steel toecaps if necessary), never open shoes or sandals! For riding wear shoes with heels!
- Gloves (especially when lunging)
- Riding in breeches
The correct equipment of the horse consists of:
- A suitable saddle with intact girth straps (no tears!) and an oiled/open stirrup bar
- Non-slip stirrups with intact stirrup leathers (no cracks!)
- Correctly fitted bridle. When using a martingale, the reins must be equipped with martingale sliders and the martingale itself must be equipped with a rubber slider
All leather equipment must be well cared for to prevent it from tearing!
Basically all equipment should be checked regularly for its integrity!
