Another key safety factor is referred to as 'the boards' or 'kick boards' that are attached to the indoor riding arena wall. Instead of hitting the frame of the building or the siding, a rider who falls near the wall, hits a flexible plywood structure built at a slight angle so it's further from the wall at its base and closer to the wall near its top. These 'boards' should cover the bottom 4 or so feet of the indoor riding arena wall. They also prevent a child from bumping his foot on the arena wall, since they are wider at the base, they keep the ponies from getting too close to the walls. Many riding lessons for small children tend to be in indoor arenas, to prevent the animals from getting distracted, and these indoor arenas should have
'kick boards' that are in good condition.
I was watching one day when a teenager was riding a new horse at the lessson barn, to check its behavior before deciding which riders to assign to it. The horse took off and ran the full length of the arena, about 200 feet. When it got to the end of the arena, it made a quick turn, and dumped its rider with incredible force, right onto 'the boards'. It shook the entire building and made such a loud noise that all the staff, construction workers, barn owner and manager all came running from different parts of the facility. She took most of the impact with her back, and her head snapped back and hit the boards too.
The teenager got up, brushed herself off and said, 'WOOPS'. If she had not been in an arena with properly constructed kick boards, if she had not had a helmet on, she would have been seriously injured.
To be perfectly honest, the difference is between night and day, a good facility and instructor vs a bad one. I rode at a school that had 14 lesson horses and had been in operation for many, many years and had NEVER had a major accident.
Outdoors, the properly constructed arena fence functions much as the 'boards' do, it gives and absorbs impact too.
You see, 'safety' in riding is not because of chance or luck. It is a direct result of riding well trained animals in a proper facility with supervision and the right equipment. I know riders in their seventies who have never had a major accident and have been riding almost daily since before they could walk, and not just in an indoor arena, but outdoors, jumping obstacles and galloping. That is not a coincidence. You know the saying, 'stuff happens'? Well a lot less stuff happens to those who are equipped properly in a well designed facility.
Lessons are a big part of safety too. There is a technique to keeping a horse balanced and safe while galloping or jumping an obstacle, to keep him going along smoothly instead of suddenly veering or stopping, and there is also a technique to keeping the horse focused and paying attention to his rider, instead of to the various things going on in the environment. And that is all based on the fundamentals a student learns from a good instructor - having a secure seat, effective rein, seat and leg signals.
People vary a lot in their opinions on riding foot gear. Some barns will specify what gear the child needs, some don't.
Sneakers, running shoes, are out. Crockies, moccasins, clogs, loafers, all out.
Whatever foot wear it is, it needs to stay firmly on the foot, and have a definite heel. A firm leather shoe like a paddock boot is good and tack shops and pony clubs often have a lot of used boots to trade or sell. A shoe with a firm toe cap is always nice as sometimes the little kids forget not to put their foot where the horse is going to put its foot.
Many stables now use 'safety stirrups' - one kind has a rubber band on one side that releases the foot should the child fall. Stirrups also are held on the saddle by safety bars that can be left down so that the stirrup and leather will slip right off if a youngster falls. That's good as it allows the child to fall free of the horse.
Surprisingly enough, children tumbling off a slowly moving small pony into properly maintained arena footing (soft sand and rubber chips, for example), actually rather rarely get hurt if they wear a helmet to prevent a bump on the head. As long as the facility is well engineered, children rarely get hurt if they do fall off. The key is that they fall free of the animal, without getting tangled in anything, and without bumping their head.
It's another matter with an adult. They weigh more, and they tend to be on taller horses.
The most important thing is to buy a child a good quality helmet. Charles Owens makes a very nice helmet. It's important to be sure the helmet the child wears is in good condition, fits snugly, and hasn't already been through a fall without the manufacturer replacing the padding in the helmet. A fall often will crush or damage the padding. Good condition in padding is important to protect the head. That padding should not all be soft. It takes a relatively firm material to absorb the energy of a blow or fall. Helmets often have some comfort pads against the head to absorb sweat and provide comfort, but they also need a good thick layer of harder material to absorb a blow.
Helmet fit is very, very important. Some think a too big hand me down helmet looks 'cute' on a child, or that the child can tip it back if it's too big. Nope, the helmet bottom line should be level when the child is sitting up straight and looking forward normally.
Buy a helmet at a tack shop with good quality employees that know how to fit helmets on children. Don't compromise a single bit on this piece of equipment. I can't even remember all the young folks who have walked away from a fall off a pony with a helmet broke in half, and a skull that was NOT.
A very famous, very skilled American top rider got a very serious skull injury in April, and her goal five months later is to be able to attend her brother's wedding. It will be a long, long road back to riding, and no one is guaranteeing she will compete as she used to. She hopped on a young horse just to try it out, and the animal tripped and fell. She forgot to put on her helmet, she usually wears one.
Every time, every ride. Put the helmet on.
Another point worth bringing up is that it takes quite a bit of time and instruction to learn to ride. After a year of weekly lessons (say, 40 rides), a child can usually post the trot and canter a bit, and perhaps sit on a quiet pony while it steps over a few small jumps. There's a lot of years and a big yawning chasm between that and controlling a more spirited horse and competing in other than 'baby classes'. For many people, learning riding becomes a lifelong adventure, and something they're always improving on.
My thoughts? They could be doing a whole of lot worse things, lol.
