Information Paper
Kathy Smith
Equestrian Sports, mainly eventing, are some of the most dangerous sports in the country, prompting riders to improve the safety of the sport. Safety is tantamount when participating in equestrian sports due to extensive injury to both rider and horse. Eventing in particular entails a triathlon for a horse and rider team composed of dressage, show jumping, and cross country.
The first stage, dressage, is a series of precise movements that the horse and rider must complete in an enclosed arena while being scored by one or more judges. The last stage is show jumping which is when the horse navigates through a course of collapsible fences. The middle stage is cross country- the most dangerous- which consists of 12-20 (lower levels) or 30-40 (higher levels) solid obstacles. This tests the horses’ endurance and agility as well as the bond and trust between the horse and rider. Because this phase is so dangerous, frangible pins have been created to drastically reduce the number of deaths that occur from horse and/or rider falls during the cross country phase. These pins will make the obstacle collapse if the horse hits it with enough force, preventing a rotational fall where the horse flips and could fall on the rider, causing serious injury or death.
However dangerous and daunting these types of incidents can seem, they can easily be prevented by the frangible pin system. In one instance recorded by Dan Starck, a rider was competing at the Preliminary level at Weston Park with stadium jumps that are 3’6” and cross country jumps no higher than 3’3”. The horse took a cross country jump from a standstill, not getting enough momentum and speed to clear the top of the obstacle. The horse landed on top of the jump with enough force to break the pins which enabled the horse and rider to walk away without injury. Eye witnesses to this incident suggested that the fall would have caused much more injury if the pin system was not used [1]. On a recognized level, professional rider Darren Chiacchia was competing with his horse at Red Hills Horse Trials when the horse rotated over a jump that did not have the frangible pin system and crushed Chiacchia. He was in a coma for a week and sustained serious rib, lung, and head injuries [2]. This kind of serious, life threatening injury is usually caused by rotational falls, similar to the one Chiacchia experienced. This happens when the horse does not have enough speed or momentum to clear the obstacle and hits it between the knee and elbow of the front legs, causing a rotational movement of the horse over the obstacle. This somersaulting movement allows the horses body to fall down onto the rider, causing serious injury or possibly death.
There are several factors that can make a dangerous combination, potentially leading to a rotational fall, the first being speed. One would think that going faster would be an advantage because time is a factor in determining placement in a competition, however, the faster the horse is going, the less control the rider has. If the horse has too much speed, it does not have time to evaluate the obstacle before it, giving the chance for mistakes to occur. On the other hand, going too slow will not allow the horse to get the correct amount of momentum to get over the obstacle. Another factor is the unpredictability of the horse. Because horses have a mind of their own, there is no way to predict how the horse will react when they are presented with an obstacle. If they do not want to go over or even approach an obstacle, they refuse it. Refusals are common and often do not result in injury, however they can sometimes be dangerous. If the horse makes a sudden stop in front of the obstacle, the rider’s momentum carries them forward, potentially carrying them over the horse’s neck. If the horse jumps to the side, the same effect happens but going either left or right rather than forward. Refusals can happen when the horse is scared or hesitant, but sometimes the horse is just misbehaving. Other common actions of a misbehaving horse include bucking, when the horse kicks out its back legs, and rearing, when the horse stands up on its back legs. If the rider is not experienced enough to handle these situations, they could possibly endanger themselves. Now more than ever, it is common for inexperienced riders to compete in events that are above their level due to the recent fame of the sport [2]. The rider’s inexperience lets them take dangerous risks that seasoned riders would know never to do. All or any of these factors can cause a rider to encounter many difficulties while on cross country, heightening the great need for frangible pins to be applied more often.
“A landing angle of more than 90 degrees [is] considered… a significant risk of crushing injury to the rider” [1]. If the frangible pin system was used for more obstacles, the chance of injury from this type of fall would be considerably lower. The pins are placed under a rail, usually made of wood, with a gap of at least 16 inches between it and the ground or any material below it. The pin is drilled horizontally all the way through the vertical post that holds the horizontal rail. Leaving about ½ of an inch outside of the post, an “R Clip” is placed on a specific place on the pin to prevent it from moving around. The rail is then placed on top of the pin and secured with ropes, placed 8 inches below the pin, that are tied around the rail and behind the post. The formula for the volume of the log used as the rail is 0.0795 x length in feet x average girth in feet x average girth in feet. This formula guarantees that the rail will not be too heavy and can be fully supported by the pins. Although these pins are the most popular out of the safety jumps, there are also synthetic materials, similar to those in Nerf products, that look realistic but will cushion the horse and/or rider if one falls or hits the jump.
In addition to the implementation of frangible pins and/or safety jumps, the sport has been making new rules for improving safety. One of the most major changes is a new rule that states after one fall of either horse or rider on cross country, the rider will be eliminated rather than the previous penalty of 60 points. Another important regulation that was just introduced was that if a rider finishes more than 90 seconds before the optimum time on cross country, they will receive a 36 point penalty [3]. These two rules will greatly improve the quality of riding within the sport and prevent riders from hurting themselves or their horses. To keep inexperienced riders out of the top levels, new National Qualifying Result (NQR) have been made that require riders to compete in a certain amount of horse trials and complete them without penalty or elimination in order for them to move up to the next recognized level. Also, if a rider receives a 25 point penalty for dangerous riding, they will not achieve a NQR. The reason for these improved safety measures is that the recent amount of injuries and deaths has been too high and the USEA in concerned for the sake of competitors. Serious injuries in horseback riding occur once every 350 hours, as opposed to motorcycling accidents which happen every 7000 hours [4]. These kinds of statistics are what need to be changed through improved regulations in the sport in order to better the sport and the nature of the competition.
There are 41,294 horse trials, or competitions, nationwide attracting tens of thousands of riders every year to compete. According to United States Eventing Association (USEA) statistics, a rider has a 1 in 71 chance of falling while on cross country [5]. Of the riders who do experience a fall, 46 of them in the 2007/08 season experienced a somersault of the horse, the most dangerous to the rider because of the potential for a crushing injury and 23 of the falls that occurred in the same season were reported as serious. These statistics compared to those of earlier seasons are actually improved. From unseated rider falls alone, the number of seriously injured or fatally injured riders continually decreased from 43 in the 2002/03 season to 23 in the 2007/08 season. In the somersault category, there were 33 reported serious or fatal injuries in 2002/03 which decreased to 12 in 2007/08 [6]. Although there has been a great decline in the number of seriously and/or fatally injured riders over the years, the numbers still need to decrease more. As for rotational falls, 10 riders were either seriously or fatally injured in 2008, heightening the need for frangible pins to be more present in cross country [8]. A report by USEA reveals a fluctuation in fatalities from 1995-2006, ranging from 0 (1995, 200-2003, and 2005) to 3 (1998), showing a 17.5% chance of injury from a cross country fall. In addition, the most common type of cross country obstacle where injuries occur is a vertical- a jump with only one horizontal rail that the horse must clear [7]. This type of jump is one that can use the frangible pin system, allowing the rail to drop if hit by a horse in competition. If more competitions were to utilize this system, there would be a significant drop in the serious or fatal injuries, as well as all other falls.
The sport of eventing is in serious need of improvement to the quality of safety of the rider and horse. By implementing the frangible pin system more frequently, the sport would see a dramatic drop in injuries and the dangerous rotational falls. In addition to the new rules already put in place by the USEA, the sport needs to control who competes in high level recognized events and how the riders that do qualify react to the different obstacles. Close observation of the horse and rider teams may give researchers an idea of what to do to improve regulations. If the sport changes the regulations that still need help and use frangible pins for more obstacles, it will become significantly safer for all horses and riders alike.
Works Cited
[1] Starck, Dan. “An Introduction to Frangible Pins.” USEA. www.uneventing.com.
[2] Thomas, Katie. “Equestrians’ Deaths Spread Unease in Sport” New York Times.
April 9, 2008
[3] USEA “Eventing Safety Measures Introduced in 2008”
[4] Beim, Gloria M. “Horseback Riding Injuries and Safety Tips.” Hughston Sports
Medicine Foundation
[5] Whitehouse, Jo. “Cooperation and Collaboration: Following Through on Our Safety
Initiatives” Eventing USA, Issue Two. 2009.
[6] British Eventing. “BE Safety Summary of Falls for 2007/08 Season” British Eventing
Online
[7] FEI. “Falls Statistics 2004-2008” FEI Eventing Risk Management Policy and Action
Plan. 31 August 2009.
[8] “USEA Cross-Country Incident Report” United States Eventing Association