Air vests have grown exponentially popular among riders, seeking a way to protect themselves if — or rather, when — they fall off.
Trainer Jimmy Torano began wearing one after his friend and client, Daryl Portela, was badly injured in a 2020 fall.
A year after Daryl’s accident, Jimmy recounted, “We had talked about her wearing a vest and it never materialized and she had that bad fall and I said, `We’re ordering them.’ From that day forward we wear them in every class.
“In the old days, we didn’t wear seat belts, we didn’t wear helmets,” Jimmy pointed out.
Now, of course, we can’t imagine life without those items.
“Change is hard. This is my choice. Everyone’s got to make their own decision, and this is mine,” Jimmy said.
It also has been the decision of many others. A prominent example is Laura Kraut, an Olympic medalist and high-profile regular on the U.S. show jumping team, whose omnipresent vest is visible in the way it blends with her jacket.
While some riders may feel safer with a vest, U.S. team physician Mark Hart pointed out there are pertinent questions about them that have yet to be answered.
Every rider can fall, even the world’s best.
He chairs the Equestrian Safety Vest Working Group, which is doing much-needed research on the subject.
Dr. Hart spoke recently during a U.S. Hunter Jumper Association Town Hall, along with Dr. Michele Hollis, chair of USHJA’s safety committee.
Many are “wondering what data is behind this? Are they (the vests) really safe? What injuries do they prevent?” Hart said.
The working group wants to create something similar to the Virginia Tech helmet rating system, which would help people make educated judgments about buying a vest. At present, there are no international certification standards for safety vests, unlike the situation with helmets.
“We need real science, we need real data. It does not exist,” said Hart.
“We have to go back to square one.”
However, as he noted, “It soon became apparent this wasn’t a U.S. problem; it was a worldwide problem.”
For that reason, he pointed out, it made sense to think internationally and have the FEI create the Equestrian Safety Vest Working Group.
Jimmy Torano’s son, JJ, wears an air vest.
The 12-member scientific panel of international experts includes not only physicians, but also biomechanical engineers and representatives from other disciplines and sports, such as horse racing, downhill skiing and motocross, along with some biomechanical experts involved in automotive safety.
There are several focus groups; for instance, a rider advisory panel surveys why riders wear a vest, or why they don’t, and deals with their concerns. As Hart noted, issues with the vests could be that they don’t allow a sufficient range of motion, or that those wearing them can’t tuck and roll in a fall because the vests inflate (which is the point of any protection they provide).
The manufacturers’ focus advisory group includes people who have technical expertise as to what they can produce, and what they can’t.
Hart noted different national federations around the world are helping obtain vital information. The scientific panel had input from other advisory panels about what knowledge will be needed.
Laura Kraut’s safety vest is visible in this photo.
A first step for research is “getting a very comprehensive video analysis of falls and what actual injuries are happening worldwide,” according to Hart.
Eventing, a discipline in which cross-country falls are a regular occurrence, has the best data base; the hunter/jumper sport doesn’t have it to the same degree, Hart pointed out. The videos are vital because they can be used to create computer models showing the forces involved in falls and what particular injuries result.
Serious falls are a rare event, so researchers have to learn as much as they can with data from those incidents. A drop box is being established where videos depicting falls can be deposited. All information will be kept anonymous. Hart urged widespread participation.
“We all as members can contribute to this project to make everybody safer and help our sport.”
That’s especially crucial in the atmosphere of social license to operate that has the public’s eye firmly fixed on what happens in equestrian sport.
Hart notes several research papers about the effects of vests are contradictory or did not reach a conclusion. An independent audit from the FEI found fence-related factors account for less than 10 percent of the variability in horse falls.
A wider analysis from the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney found that riders wearing air jackets had 1.7 times the odds of serious or fatal injury — with the authors explicit that causation was not established and confounders were likely.
According to a 2016 crash study, air jackets reduced predicted severe chest injury risk from 94 percent to 81 percent, while still concluding fatal injury remains highly likely when a horse lands on a rider.
“When we’re dealing with a 1,000 kilogram animal at speed, at heights, we are not going to make this 100 percent safe; just like we drive cars every day, there’s going to be accidents,” Hart pointed out.
“But can we reduce the severity of the injuries when a fall inevitably happens?”
It is not only air vests being examined, but also traditional foam body protectors, which eventers wear under their air vests.
“It’s going to be an incremental process. We’re always going to be working to make riding safer for the horses and the athletes. Are safety vests going to help everything? No,” Hart said.
But there are other things that can be done in the interests of safety. In terms of decreasing severe injuries, with more than protective gear to be considered. Hart noted a number of factors involved with prioritizing prevention, including Minimum Eligibility Requirements for riders and horses before moving on to the next level, as well as focused training and in eventing, frangible fences that fall when struck by a horse’s hooves or legs.
Questions or comments on the subject can be directed to medical@fei.org
