Body Protectors

I always wear one. After my beloved OH video'd me trotting :eek: I realised I desperately needed something to keep my wayward la-la's under control. Better than any sports bra. :D
It's very comfortable once it's warmed up and I forget it's there. I do tend to get very hot wearing it in the nice summer (anyone remember what that is?) weather.
 
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i wear mine everytime im mounted,its not worth the risk!!! mine saved my life last year and i didnt even get out of the paddock to go on the hack i had planned!!!!! luckily due to wearing a very good hat and backprotector i only suffered a fractured hip and dislocated shoulder and a head injury,my consultant said if i hadnt been wearing a good hat and backprotector and been overweight i would be dead!!! before my accident i would wear my backprotector for just x country, i have no idea why i put it on that day,but im very glad i did!!!!!!! it could have been ALOT worse!!!!
 
ohhhh mine gets on my nerves, but my current RS makes everyone wear one when on a horse, so now I've had to get used to it :p I've got a Rodney Powell one.

It's really hot, especially in this weather, but it means I don't have to wear the sports bra, and it doesn't affect my riding in any way, except I reckon it makes me look a tad fat :eek: nice in the winter though, keeps the heat in

You just have to make sure it's correctly fitted, or you could do more harm to yourself than you would without one.
 
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I have started to wear mine, better to be safe than sorry, I was reminded as only one person picked up that I wasn't wearing one in my jumping pics, the friend who's mum was saved from being paralysed because she had hers on.

So I wear it now, luckily I find mine blooming comfy, although did manage to hit horse in head with a padded boob, not used to them sticking out you see!!;)
 
I've had one for approx. 4 out of 5 years of riding, and now i feel weird not wearing one - it helps with my posture and i feel safer and mroe supported in it.
yes, it may make you stiff, but i think the usefulness outweighs the bad bits as i'd rather be a tad stiff during riding (though i'm not significantly) than in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.
They can be uncomfy when you fall, but i think they help 'blur' the blow and they are mainly uncomfy because they deliberately keep your back straight ... but it helps saves you curving and breaking it.

I say this because my mum has an old friend who used to school youngsters. One day, one reared up whilst she was riding it and toppled backwards, crushing her beneath so that she was in a wheelchair from then on. She was only in her 30s and had to give up all her horses, carrer and her old life. She was told by the doctor that a body protector may have prevented it/lessened the damage.
 
It certainly doesnt protect you from all injuries (fractured shoulder to prove that one!) but I wouldnt ride without one and neither would my daughter, even tho she can be the only one at BSJA SJ with one on!

I agree that they 'blur' the blow, especially if you hit the ground flat on your back but I know someone who broke her back altho she was wearing one -thankfully now fully recovered.

Personally, they are there to protect you , as are the hats, so use them.:)

I find mine quite comfy..altho I know that most people dont and I have to say Im likelly to take to mine with a kitchen knife anytime soon to slice off about 1/2 inch from the bottom - Im sure that will make it even more comfy!!!:D
 
I have one - I wouldn't get near a XC field without one and I do love my XC:D Seriously though, I fell off Sam when he cat leaped down a drop jump and actually landed on the log that we were jumping over. I barely felt it because I landed square on my BP otherwise who knows what damage I might have done to myself. I do find mine super comfy though :)
 
My body protector restricts my movement, and makes me feel extremely tense in myself. My body protector saved me from busting all my ribs and piercing my lungs 2 years ago when I had a riding accident resulting in my landing chest-first onto a wooden fence. Even though I had been given the OK to ride, i couldn't wear my body protector because swelling around my ribs made it extremely uncomfortable. This was for about 1 month, and after that time had come, I was settling in and getting used to not wearing one.

I haven't worn it since then, but if i start to do showjumping competitions i will wear it away from home.
 
mayoguinness said:
No I never wear one nor ever have. I've been told by quiet a few people that if you fall off it ristricts you from landing properly and "rolling". Dunno if theres any truth in that but so for bps never been a part of my riding life!!
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If you don't know if there's any truth in it, why post it? :confused:

And it's not true, not unless it's fitted improperly! Never heard that before. I've come off a couple times with my body protector and a) I still land well (I land better then anyone I know) and b) it hurts less if I happen to land on my back. I had a fall a few days ago where I landed hard on my back. I'm not saying that it would have killed me without my body protector on, but I probably wouldn't have been getting back on that day. Bu the vest absorbed some of the shock, so I knocked the wind out of myself for a couple minutes, and then I was fine.

Yes, there is the rare occassion that you'd be better off without one. But there's also the rare occassion that you'd be better off not wearing a seltbelt, but we all still wear them!
 
I love my body protector, comfortable, warm, and much safer if you fall :)
I wear it even when I'm out on a quiet hack just to be safe, plus I feel weird without it on now.
Might stop wearing it when Im just doing flatwork in the school though, because I've become a bit dependant on it helping my position.
 
my back protector is ancient but does the trick as I can fold the bottom flap under. I wear it anytime I jump, ride on the roads or go XC. If I am on a young or unfamiliar horse I wear it at all times.

I cant wear the newer ones at all I feel as if I am in a cage and as I am short most catch the back of the saddle (they seem to go down too far) and I cant sit properly in the saddle. I feel that If I cannot sit properly, I cant ride effectively, react to what the horse does and therefore am at a higher risk of falling.

Ironically I had a bad accident a few years ago where the fact that I wasnt wearing a back protector saved me! I was on a horse which was kicked by a pony and bolted past a tree. A large branch hit my throat and I bent completely back (cantle of saddle dug into my back) with my head lying on the horse behind the saddle and my feet still in the stirrups. Lucky I didnt break my neck. Had I a back protector on I could not have bent back so far and the outcome would have been far worse!
 
Siogfinsceal said:
my back protector is ancient but does the trick as I can fold the bottom flap under. I wear it anytime I jump, ride on the roads or go XC. If I am on a young or unfamiliar horse I wear it at all times.

I cant wear the newer ones at all I feel as if I am in a cage and as I am short most catch the back of the saddle (they seem to go down too far) and I cant sit properly in the saddle. I feel that If I cannot sit properly, I cant ride effectively, react to what the horse does and therefore am at a higher risk of falling.

Ironically I had a bad accident a few years ago where the fact that I wasnt wearing a back protector saved me! I was on a horse which was kicked by a pony and bolted past a tree. A large branch hit my throat and I bent completely back (cantle of saddle dug into my back) with my head lying on the horse behind the saddle and my feet still in the stirrups. Lucky I didnt break my neck. Had I a back protector on I could not have bent back so far and the outcome would have been far worse!
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EEEK! Is all I can say to that, I am going to see if I can lay down in mine, luckily I have rather a long back, blimey your lucky!
 
thankfully i doubt its something that happens very often unless you do hunting or trekking where there may be branches. It happened when I worked in a trekking centre, im still terrified of branches hanging down hate riding in woods or forests now.
However my back protector did save me some time ago when I was doing groundwork with w 3 yr old who kicked me in the ribs. My ribs cracked -would have been much worse without the protector on
 
Keket said:
If you don't know if there's any truth in it, why post it? :confused:

And it's not true, not unless it's fitted improperly! Never heard that before. I've come off a couple times with my body protector and a) I still land well (I land better then anyone I know) and b) it hurts less if I happen to land on my back. I had a fall a few days ago where I landed hard on my back. I'm not saying that it would have killed me without my body protector on, but I probably wouldn't have been getting back on that day. Bu the vest absorbed some of the shock, so I knocked the wind out of myself for a couple minutes, and then I was fine.

Yes, there is the rare occassion that you'd be better off without one. But there's also the rare occassion that you'd be better off not wearing a seltbelt, but we all still wear them!
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I guess to try and figure out if it is true or not:D obviously not!!
 
Like chickflick, I have mine just for the occasions where organisers stipulate that I must wear one.

Also please note everyone that they are BODY protectors not BACK protectors - they are not there to specifically protect your back, so if you wear one for that reason then you are labouring under a misapprehension.
 
I used to wear mine for jumping only when at the riding school. I then got my own horse and wore it all the time as he was only 3years old and still very silly. Got my mare, who's 8 and only wore it for jumping, and then hacking as i was told i had to. But now i don't wear it at all, probably a bit of a stupid idea but i trust her that much that i don't want to wear something that makes me so hot and uncomfortable.
Also a friend fell off the other day off a very nervous horse who bolted when she got on, he kicked her in the head(thank goodness for hats) stood on her legs, kicked her wrist but didn't touch her anywhere near her body protector, and it got in the way of her if she had tried to jump off, so no use whatsoever in this particular incident. x
 
I wear mine every time I ride. It's no hassle to wear it (although the bottom does get in the way - particularly when going downhill). Yes it makes me hot, but my had makes my head sweat and I wouldn't stop wearing that! I think we should jump at the chance of anything that gives us protection. Even the quietest horse and most capable rider can have an accident.

Thankfully mine hasn't been put to the test yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
 
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