From helmet ratings and air vests to fitness and fall training, equestrian safety is a complicated—and very personal—business. What the research reveals, what remains uncertain, and how to improve your chances to stay safe.

If the world looks best to you from between a horse’s ears, every grisly accident in the headlines can send you auditing your own safety habits. Here is what the research shows, what it leaves unanswered, and how riders can improve their odds.

One reason the answers are hard to pin down is that equestrian accidents are not collected in a single, comprehensive database. Instead, the evidence comes from a patchwork of sources: hospital records, sport-specific reporting, helmet lab tests, body-protector studies, and incident reports from organizations such as the FEI and US Pony Club.

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Wild Horses. The words tap into a deep well of emotion. Their unbridled wildness, grace and struggles remind us of what humans have taken away from the animals we’ve domesticated over thousands of years.

The reality faced by many is something else entirely: flight, eyes wide, chased by low-flying helicopters. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), charged with protecting these horses and their habitats, use helicopters to drive them into pens for removal to off-range holding facilities. It’s a controversial and dangerous operation, but hardly the most worrisome chapter in their lives.

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A year ago, I booked a trip out west to help drive a herd of mules and horses to their winter pasture. It was a calculated risk. I checked the box that said “Advanced rider.” But I also checked the one that said “calm horse,” not “spirited;” and another that said “Walk and trot only,” not “Canter and gallop.”

You know it was hard to check those boxes. I’d seen the photos. High desert, big sky, western saddles, lots of dust. A huge herd of loose animals, rushing towards their vacation grounds, mounting excitement.

Checking those boxes was my way of doing something I probably should not be doing at all: continuing to ride after an osteoporosis diagnosis and a broken elbow from a bike fall.

A lot of us have osteoporosis of various levels. About 8 million women and 2 million men in the U.S., according to federal government statistics. It means our bones are porous and particularly subject to fracture.  It generally means we should eat more calcium and lift more weight. It may mean we take drugs. For riders, it means we each have to weigh the risk of riding.  It’s not just the risk of falling, it’s also the risk of compression on the spine from the horse’s gait beneath us.

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Books make great Christmas gifts, we’ve compiled a list of horse books for horse lovers of all ages, written by our own east coast authors. We hope you find just the gift you’re looking for!

Author, Laurie Berglie of Maryland is best known for her equestrian romance series, “Maryland Manor.” All titles take place in the rolling hills of Maryland, and follow three main characters - Molly, Macy, and Erin.

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After decades of corporate takeovers, consolidation, changing economies, and online disruption, equestrian retail is rediscovering its heartbeat. For State Line Tack, more than 45 years of reinvention have brought it full circle—back to the horses, riders and community that started it all.

There was a time when buying a new bridle meant a trip to the tack shop. You could smell the leather, compare workmanship and ask the person behind the counter which brand might survive another season of hard use. The mail-order catalog changed that experience, bringing an extraordinary selection of equipment to riders miles from the nearest saddlery. The internet changed it again.

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From Pimlico and Fair Hill to hunt fields, school barns, polo grounds and Eastern Shore community networks, Maryland’s equestrian life is compact, serious, and deeply rooted.

The first thing to understand about Maryland horse country is that it does not stop neatly at the state line. Maryland riders think nothing of hauling to Chester County, Upperville or the Virginia countryside for the weekend, and the Maryland Horse Show Association’s calendar reflects that reality, listing shows across Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. This is a compact, border-crossing horse world.

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