November/December 2026 Issue

November/December 2026 | EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN 12 Riding the Odds of the saddle. In one lab study, adding an air vest over a foam vest reduced the force trans- mitted. The real-world data, however, point in a more complicated direction: in FEI eventing falls from 2015 to 2017, riders wearing an air jacket over a body protector accounted for about half of the riders who fell and about two-thirds of the serious or fatal injuries. We found no US certification program for air vests and no independent test showing that an inflating collar prevents neck injury. Because the real-world data involve riders wearing foam protection underneath, an air vest worn alone remains untested in real falls. Safety Beyond Equipment When Ask Heather stumbled after the final fence of Ireland’s Killeagh point-to- point in 2019, amateur jockey Michael Sweeney was thrown nearly all the way over her head. He lifted himself back into the saddle and went on to win. Few riders could replicate that recovery, and it shows how much physical demand a sudden loss of balance can place on a rider. Conditioning Off-horse conditioning builds the strength, balance, coordination, and en- durance riders draw on when their po- sition is disrupted. Research has shown that targeted core training improves rid- ers’ dynamic balance and back-muscle endurance, which may help reduce falls. The biggest payoff is better control of your own body. Fall Training Fall training covers the other half: what to do when staying aboard is no longer an option. When Buca stumbled at a bank out of water, his rider says her LandSafe training took over. “My first thought wasn’t ‘I’m falling’ … It was ‘I need to get away to the side of him.’” She rolled away, then pushed harder and rolled farther when she saw the horse coming toward her. Briles came away with a collar- bone injury, and credits her response with getting clear from Buca and the potential of a more crushing injury. The bottom line: riding carries inher- ent risk, and that risk changes with sport, skill, fitness, equipment, circumstance, and the horse. Riders cannot control ev- ery variable, but they can make deliberate choices—fit the helmet, understand the limits of protective gear, build the body, and practice the response—that reduce the chance of serious injury. Continued from page 9