Safety Around Horses

Do you value your life or the life of your child? If you do then you probably want to know how to stay safe around horses.

In general, horses have no desire to hurt their riders, but it does happen. It's not really their fault when it does happen though. Horses are prey animals. Because of this, they are always alert for potential predators and they are notorious for finding them lurking behind bushes, as well as various other places. They may also buck or rear due to pain caused from poorly fitted tack or a rough rider. They can be stung by bees or other biting insects which may result in them bucking or bolting. They could also just be misbehaving.

The reasons why a horse may hurt its rider are numerous, and often quite preventable. However, we are concerned with protecting the rider in case he/she falls off, so let's look at some statistics on horse-related injuries:

Journal of Trauma 1997 July; 43(1):97-99
Synopsis: Thirty million Americans ride horses and 50,000 are treated in Emergency Departments annually. Neurologic injuries constitute the majority of severe injuries and deaths. A prospective study of patients admitted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center with equine-related trauma from July 1992 - January 1996 revealed:

• 18 of 30 (60%) patients were male.


• 11 (37%) were professional riders.


• 24 (80%) were head injuries and 9 (30%) were spinal injuries (4 with both).


• age ranged from 3 to 64 yrs.


• 5 patients died (17%).


• 2 suffered permanent paralysis (7%).


• 60% were caused by "ejection or fall from horse".


• 40% were kicked by the horse, with 4 of these sustaining crush injuries.


• 6 patients (20%) required brain surgery.


• 24 patients (80%) weren't wearing helmets. This includes all deaths and brain surgery patients.

By looking at these statistics you can see that everyone that died or required brain surgery shared one thing in common: they weren't wearing helmets. Simply by wearing the proper footwear and a helmet, you can reduce your risk of serious injuries or death.

Lens Last Updated: 3/19/11