The horsemanship industry, for all its lofty ideals and bleeding-heart woo-woo mindfulness garbage, is failing to protect riders. Horse injuries have spiked 139% in riders 65+, despite total injuries across all age groups are lower. And the severity of the injuries has increased. This means that when falls happen, despite widespread use of modern safety gear like protective helmets and vests, traumatic brain and spinal injuries are actually MORE frequent. The data is clear: the modern horsemanship industry is failing to promote safety. Modern riders and horses are LESS well trained and LESS capable than ever. Helmets are the only thing holding back this flood of incompetence.

This episode is a call for a re-orientation of horsemanship instruction toward SAFETY and away from nebulous concepts like "connection" and "attunement". Because that stuff isn't working. And it's pretty hard to be "attuned" when your pelvis is broken.

[Citations]

Equestrian Related Injuries: A National Database Study | AOAO

https://aoao.org/2024/04/24/equestrian-related-injuries-a-national-database-study/

Sports and Recreational Injuries - Injury Facts

https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/sports-and-recreational-injuries/

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Injuries Related to Individual and Team Sports: An Analysis of the NEISS Database Between 2017 and 2021 - PubMed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37900862/

Sports and Recreational Injuries - Injury Facts

https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/sports-and-recreational-injuries/

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Injuries Related to Individual and Team Sports: An Analysis of the NEISS Database Between 2017 and 2021 - PubMed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37900862/

Injury Patterns and Associated Demographic Characteristics in Children with a Fracture from Equines: A US National Based Study

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/12/1443

Illustrations of three key branching points of the survey:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/llustrations-of-three-key-branching-points-of-the-survey-A-C_fig1_347862914

[PDF] Horse Riding Accident Statistics in 2023 (U.S. Data)

https://www.biamo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/HorsesOnly-Horse-Riding-Accident-Statistics-in-2023-website-article.pdf

Spinal Injuries from Equestrian Activity: A US Nationwide Study - PMC

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12250276/

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Injuries Related to Individual and Team Sports: An Analysis of the NEISS Database Between 2017 and 2021 - PubMed

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37900862/

Covid-19-and-final-2020-NEISS-estimates-March-December-6b6_edited20210607_0

https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Covid-19-and-final-2020-NEISS-estimates-March-December-6b6_edited20210607_0.pdf

Injury Patterns and Associated Demographic Characteristics in Children with a Fracture from Equines: A US National Based Study

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/12/1443

Spinal Injuries from Equestrian Activity: A US Nationwide Study - PMC

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12250276/

Equestrian Related Injuries: A National Database Study | AOAO

https://aoao.org/2024/04/24/equestrian-related-injuries-a-national-database-study/

Equestrian Related Injuries: A National Database Study | AOAO

https://aoao.org/2024/04/24/equestrian-related-injuries-a-national-database-study/

Injury Patterns and Associated Demographic Characteristics in Children with a Fracture from Equines: A US National Based Study

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/12/1443

Sports and Recreational Injuries - Injury Facts

https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/sports-and-recreational-injuries/

[/citations]