BBC News: Riders 20 times more likely to sustain serious injury than motor cyclists!

Stella2

Stella2

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Aug 5, 2001
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Apparantly, there was an Inside Out programme on this the other day in certain regions (UK). Today BBC News 24 showed quite a long piece featuring air ambulance recovery of a rider, film of riders and film of the mother of a teenager who died following a fall from her pony (she split her liver and was wearing a BP) and a paraplegic woman who broke her neck having got on a mare with an unknown sore back. She was thrown before she was properly in the saddle. The report said that horse riding is 20 times more dangerious than riding a motor bike! :eek:

I knew it was a dangerious sport, but that figure came as a suprise. My OH was there when it was on and said "that money you put into a separate account for horsey stuff can go towards the wheelchair". He is supportive, but has always thought riding is a bad idea :rolleyes:

I am still laid up with an injured foot sustained in a fall on Christmas eve. I do find myself wondering about the whole hacking out thing. I am prepared to take the risks associated with riding, but when things are going to go pear shaped it is more likely to happen hacking, than schooling or competing (dressage anyway).

For anyone wanting to see the piece, I'm guessing they will keep showing it on News 24 today.
 
Oh, I don't think schooling is much safer, if at all. I've seen people chucked off head first into the base of the arena fence, and not come round for five-ten minutes.

I am slightly surprised that it is so much more dangerous than motorbiking though - you'd have thought all those high-speed crashes would be worse than coming off a horse. I'd be interested in reading the research paper that claimed that.
 
evilgiraffe said:
Oh, I don't think schooling is much safer, if at all. I've seen people chucked off head first into the base of the arena fence, and not come round for five-ten minutes.

I am slightly surprised that it is so much more dangerous than motorbiking though - you'd have thought all those high-speed crashes would be worse than coming off a horse. I'd be interested in reading the research paper that claimed that.
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yes me too :rolleyes: but anyway i know it is classed as one of the most dangerous sports, but that just makes it more fun ;) makes me feel like a 'bad girl rebel' :D
 
Sounds like sensationalism to me. Used to be that the BBC were above that sort of thing:rolleyes:

You could get killed crossing the road. The number of accidents on the M27 and the M3 and the rest of the British motorway network I should imagine:eek: . If you never take a risk you would end up aged 50 still in a cot sucking on a rusk because you might fall over and hurt yourself.

OK it happens sometimes, there are a number of regular posters on NR that have been badly injured horseriding, but I'm not prepared to live my life wrapped in cotton wool. I admit I wouldn't take unnecessary risks but I want to finish my life knowing that I have lived it.

Life is not a dress rehursal.
 
Sounds too to me like sensationalism. I have a couple of friends that ride motorbikes for pleasure and do various activities within their sphere, and they have had quite a few nasty injuries - it doesn't put them off tho! I think you can have accidents anytime and anywhere in life - thats why they're called accidents. I would rather live my dream and be around horses than spend a lifetime of "ifs, buts and what ifs"..............
 
In 46 years of car travelling and driving, I've only had one accident resulting in injury.The bath has yet to fight back, though the kitchen floor did when my feet were wet from the paddling pool...got a nasty bruise.
I've had a few bumps and bruises from horses tho.Perhaps with more people owning their own horses for pleasure there's more scope for a higher number of injuries.My own view is to work out where injury is most likely and what I can personally do to minimise the risk.
My own plan this year has been to; wear proper boots -no more bruised feet.
-to send my youngster away to Micheal Peace for consolidation training and bombproofing. (Best thing I've ever done, Brilliant man. ) Re-educate OH's cob to increase confidence for hacking alone and do brake check, as he has a neck and shoulders that could pull a steam train.
Never ride without a hat and wear loads of hi viz out hacking.
Move yards to a livery with more off-road riding and better menege. Work regularly on the ground to maintain good manners.
Erm, sure there's more, can't think at the moment. But, as with all risky sports, you take a measured risk without losing the pleasure of what gives you enjoyment, but surely it makes sense to recognise and prevent unnessecary accidents ?
 
I too agree that figure sounds really suspect - there'd be nobody left to go horse-riding! If people don't know much about horses, then they can sometimes assume it's much more dangerous than it actually is.

I've been involved with mountaineering and skiing for over 25 years, five of which I was in a mountain rescue team. Yes, there are risks involved in climbing/hillwalking/skiing (though many of them are due to ignorance) but to hear many non-mountaineers talk about it (including my mother :rolleyes: ) you'd think you would drop dead as soon as you left the road! I'm with Hallmarked - life's too short to spend it wrapped in cotton wool.
 
The thing is we all CHOOSE to ride.

It is not as though we are forced to ride and take these risks.

I think everyone balances the risk and so long as it is mesaured then its fine!Falling off is an associated hazard of riding-same as excess gas is an associated hazard of baked beans or worse still brussels sprouts!!I still eat both- but warn family members of consumption!!

Do the BBC think that we will all throw up our arms and say "Thank you oh Great BBC for enlightening me as to the risks I have undertaken"

Unfortunatley it may put a lot of people off coming into this fab sport.
 
Everything in life is a risk...............even living is a risk if you put it like that but only a risk as we could die. Heart attack, maybe a fall down the stairs, could have a gass leak in the night, freak twister. so just being in a house is a big risk!! Everythings a risk.......thats what makes life a little more interesting!! Even if it is so dangerous it doesn't bother me. You do what you love, risk or not, what would be the point in living otherwise??
 
Oh course its more dangerous than a motor bike, when was the last tijme you saw a motor bike spook at a monster in the hedge :rolleyes: :confused:

I did exactly the same thing as the woman in the wheel chair (getting on, horse freaked, went up and rodeoed), only I [luckily] came out of it with concussion.
I sat there and went 'I did that' at the tv, OH was less than impressed. Noticably he was much more supportive before he had to drive me to A+E 2 weeks ago.

To be honest, if I was going to go, I'd rather be riding than under the wheels 9or behind the wheel) of a car. I've got to go one way, and riding is a risk I am willing to take.

Interestingly, more people visit hospital with injuries from fishing than horse riding (fishing is technically the most dangerous sport)

And more people are admitted to hospital with squirrel bites than dog bites, yet we are trying to destroy all bulldog breeds.....
Conclusion-its all just journalism
 
evilgiraffe said:
Oh, I don't think schooling is much safer, if at all. I've seen people chucked off head first into the base of the arena fence, and not come round for five-ten minutes.
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I've watched someone get ditched twice in under ten minutes in the school. She was "schooling" her youngster, giving him very badly mixed signals (forcing his head in, and asking him to go forwards), and obviously p*ssed him off, so he set about trying to scrape her off on the wall.
 
vickinffc said:
Oh course its more dangerous than a motor bike, when was the last tijme you saw a motor bike spook at a monster in the hedge :rolleyes: :confused:

I did exactly the same thing as the woman in the wheel chair (getting on, horse freaked, went up and rodeoed), only I [luckily] came out of it with concussion.
I sat there and went 'I did that' at the tv, OH was less than impressed. Noticably he was much more supportive before he had to drive me to A+E 2 weeks ago.

To be honest, if I was going to go, I'd rather be riding than under the wheels 9or behind the wheel) of a car. I've got to go one way, and riding is a risk I am willing to take.

Interestingly, more people visit hospital with injuries from fishing than horse riding (fishing is technically the most dangerous sport)

And more people are admitted to hospital with squirrel bites than dog bites, yet we are trying to destroy all bulldog breeds.....
Conclusion-its all just journalism
Click to expand...

Yes and motorbikes only do wheelies when asked :D

It also true that a cause of many injuries sustained in the home (where most injuries occur) happen whilst putting on trousers!! Honest, its true :D

It has to be born in mind that that everyone is 'in the home' a large proportion of their time and fishing is the most commonly undertaken sport - although I have to ask how fishermen/women injure themselves so often? What are their injuries? :confused: Also nearly everyone travels by car regularly (as a driver or passenger), but only a small percentage of the population ride, so you would expect many more accidents in the home and in cars (still can't get my head around the risks of fishing!).

I take the same sort of approach as colletybetty. I will carry on riding etc, but I think about safety and take steps to reduce risk.
 
I have lost count of the number of times I have fallen off whilst riding. I haven't fallen off a motor bike once. I machine is predictable although unpredicitable things can happen and the 2 wheels make it easier to fall off.

I'm supprised it's only 20 times more dangerous, thought it would be higher TBH :confused:

I bet this starts the debate about whether the NHS should have to fork out for the likes of us that choose to put ourselves at risk. Especially since we are all mega rich and can afford to build our own hospitals anyway! :rolleyes:
 
Joyscarer said:
I bet this starts the debate about whether the NHS should have to fork out for the likes of us that choose to put ourselves at risk. Especially since we are all mega rich and can afford to build our own hospitals anyway! :rolleyes:
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I hope not. As the OP, can I ask that it doesn't, that arguement is not big, not cleavor and a bit boring :rolleyes:
 
Stella2 said:
Yes and motorbikes only do wheelies when asked :D

It also true that a cause of many injuries sustained in the home (where most injuries occur) happen whilst putting on trousers!! Honest, its true :D

It has to be born in mind that that everyone is 'in the home' a large proportion of their time and fishing is the most commonly undertaken sport - although I have to ask how fishermen/women injure themselves so often? What are their injuries? :confused: Also nearly everyone travels by car regularly (as a driver or passenger), but only a small percentage of the population ride, so you would expect many more accidents in the home and in cars (still can't get my head around the risks of fishing!).

I take the same sort of approach as colletybetty. I will carry on riding etc, but I think about safety and take steps to reduce risk.
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ah, now the fishing I can answer-as someone who's dad seems to have spent the majority of his retirement with a rod in hiw hand-hooks in thumbs, bites (yes, my dad did have to have treatment for that) hooks, rods, lines in the eye, drowning, hypothermia (they never know when to go in and give up).

I'd imagine though that there are more riders than motorcyclists.

The other thing that got me about that programme was that one of the figures was about the proportion of helicopter call outs due to riding compared to motor accidents. Did it not occur to the makes of the programme that that is because the majority of motor accidents are on ROADS-kinda makes getting an ambulance there a bit easier.
 
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