I visited a horse show at the weekend (on foot) and in the short time that I was thereI saw two incidents that could have resulted in serious injury or death. In one case a mounted horsewas running backwards out of control towards a small child in a push chair. At the last second therider regained control as a parent of the child pulled the child to safety. In the other incident asmall pony was tied up by the bridle reins to a jumps trailer. The pony pulled back, fell over nextto a very expensive looking car. Again luckily no one was hurt.

Horse riding and its related disciplines are widely acknowledged as being dangerous activities. Dueto high accident figures insurance companies and the like continue to pigeonhole horse activitieswith extreme sports. This is not surprising when the statistics (Australia) are taken into account.Between the years 2001 and 2003 there were estimated 2400 hospital admissions due to horse ridinginjuries. Also in that same period approximately 30 people died as a result of their injuries.

It will never be totally safe to interact with horses because a horse is a large animal with its ownagenda and instincts, one that we tend to put into unnatural circumstances. However many of thedangers can be reduced and managed by employing safe practices and risk management strategies. Thesefactors need to be incorporated into all of our dealings with horses and by all levels of horsepeople from the complete beginner to the advanced horse person. We all need to be responsible forour own safety and for making sure that we do not put other people at risk. Horse riders/owners needto be aware that non-horse people are usually unaware of the potential for injury when around horsesand take steps to keep them safe.

Many injuries and fatalities occur with horses due to a lack of understanding about why horses dothe things that they do, a lack of experience and because people get complacent. What seems to beirrational behaviour to us is not so to a horse. Being safer around horses may mean learning newskills or a shift in a current way of thinking and behaving using safe practices and risk managementstrategies. These practices and strategies require horse people to:
• Learn about horses physical and behavioural characteristics in order to understand them better andbe safer when around them.
• Use safe equipment and facilities, improve existing facilities when necessary and take a standagainst the use of unsafe equipment and facilities.
• Manage horses correctly so that they can perform well, willingly and without the resistance thatcan arise form poor management.
• Use safe procedures when training horses and train horses to be safer.
• Have/provide good safe instruction, self improvement and the improvement of others reducesaccidents.
• Be vigilant and aware of the environment and situations. This involves identifying hazards andusing peripheral vision to notice any changes that may cause an accident.
• Become safety conscious to the point where this becomes second nature.
• Expect the unexpected when dealing with horses and be prepared but not nervous.
• Never do anything that they are not comfortable with. Many accidents are caused because people,either through inexperience or bravado, attempt to do things with horses that are way above their orthe horses current level of skill.
• Be aware of other horses, people (especially children) and be conscious of the possible reactionsof their horses that could put others at risk!
• Be prepared to take control of a situation if it becomes potentially dangerous for example if arider/handler has a concern that the activity may involve a risk that they cannot control, then theyshould STOP, and ask people to move etc

While recognising that there are numerous opinions in the Horse Industry about how todo things with horses and many different methods of handling and training horses, the safety issuesremain the same. Therefore fundamental safe practices and risk management strategies can be appliedto any situation with horses.

This article is taken in part from the book Horse Safe: A complete guide to Equine Safety byJane Myers, published by CSIRO. Jane holds riding clinics and horse property management workshops.

Disclaimer: While the author and publisher have taken all appropriate care to ensure theaccuracy of this articles content, no liability is accepted for any loss or damage from or incurredas a result of any reliance on the information provided in this article.

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