# Protective Vest For hunter jumpers



## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

Sghorselover said:


> I have had a couple of bad falls (3 in 2 weeks) recently and I was wondering is it worth looking in to a protective vest (a certified one)?
> 
> I am a hunter jumper. No one really wears them, but would i stick out too much wearing one?
> 
> ...


_One of the girls at my barn rides in a vest every lesson. It is her (parents) decision._

_I have seen a few hunters wear one, as well as a few jumpers. _

_Really....it is your decision in the end if you want to wear one. You will not be marked down in hunters for them. _


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## corporate pride (Feb 23, 2010)

i go out cross country in a vest and if i'm training a young horse that isn't that predicable i bring it with me incase i decide to use it. when i took my young horse out for the first time i only had him 3 weeks and he's never been out with that much going on (and not out with me) so i wore the vest all day when usually i don't.
i got a tipperary which is a little bulky but it's easy to move in and comfortable.
i had seen people use a vest called VIPA i'm not sure but i think it might be australian made, it was designed by a jockey, they are very slimline and could be hidden under clothing if you wish to


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## Stella (Aug 21, 2010)

I always where a helmet/vest when I ride. I think that yes, if safety is the greatest concern, you should wear one. Just a word of warning though- you get used to them real fast but they feel kind of stiff when you first ride in them. Still, if you have had so many falls in 2 weeks I'm starting to think that your horse might be a bit dangerous and that yeah, a protective vest is probably a good idea.

Hope this helped!


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## Sghorselover (Oct 19, 2009)

Well at first I was working with a green pony. Rode her 4 times a week then she left and I have been moved around to many different horses. I fell off this week also ;(

Are the Charles Owen vests good?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## VanillaBean (Oct 19, 2008)

I have to use a jumping vest everytime i jump. I do eventing, and I wear it in Stadium & XC. 
I _*LOVE*_ my Charles Owen. It isnt too stiff, it breathes, it moves with me, easy to put on/take off while mounted, I highly reccomend it!
Good Luck!


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## Luvs2jump (Oct 11, 2010)

VanillaBean said:


> I have to use a jumping vest everytime i jump. I do eventing, and I wear it in Stadium & XC.
> I _*LOVE*_ my Charles Owen. It isnt too stiff, it breathes, it moves with me, easy to put on/take off while mounted, I highly reccomend it!
> Good Luck!


I've got a Charles Owens too and I love it especially for being hard to find one that would fit due to my confo and it's perfect.
I haven't seen too many H/J people wear them and I know there was a thread on here not too long ago about showing in them. I haven't Evented in a few years so I haven't used it and am at a H/J barn but the more I think about it, the more I wanna start using it again.


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## LindseyHunterx24 (Nov 1, 2010)

Sghorselover said:


> I have had a couple of bad falls (3 in 2 weeks) recently and I was wondering is it worth looking in to a protective vest (a certified one)?
> 
> I am a hunter jumper. No one really wears them, but would i stick out too much wearing one?
> 
> ...


I'm a Hunter Jumper and Most of my barn is to. Almost everyone in my barn wears a vest because we cannot risk getting hurt The vest I wear is a $200 one and it has saved my life! I fell of a horse and landed on tail bone first and then my back and then my head smacked the ground. If i wasnt wearing that vest I would no be able to ride anymore. I love them*When they are fitted right!*


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Since I jump, my mom wants me to start wearing an eventing vest, so today we drove to the tack store and I bought my Christmas gift; it's an Airowear eventing vest. It was the only certified one they carried, and it was super comfortable--plus it supposedly conforms to your body as it heats up. I paid $239.

I wouldn't go with an Intec, I know a lot of people that have that one but it's not certified. Better than nothing....but not certified.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

If you are short on money you can consider Flex Rider (Dover Saddlery | Ladies' Intec Flex-Rider Body Protector .). Frankly I found it as uncomfortable as Charles Owen (both feel like you are packed in cardboard), but at least it's like 2.5 times cheaper. If you have little more to spend I agree with equiniphile - Airoway is amazingly comfortable (Dover Saddlery | Airowear Outlyne Flexible Vest .)


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

LindseyHunterx24 said:


> I fell of a horse and landed on tail bone first and then my back and then my head smacked the ground. If i wasnt wearing that vest I would no be able to ride anymore. I love them*When they are fitted right!*


_Just as a question...how would you not be able to ride anymore if you were not wearing the vest after this fall?_

_I have fallen off plenty of times and landed on my back and tailbone, without wearing a vest, and still perfectly able to ride. I have also broken a helmet from one fall, and still am able to ride._

_To the best of my knowledge, vests were first created to help prevent injury when a person fell off and was stepped on by a horse....not for impact of falling off. The material on the inside was supposed to take the impact of a horses hoof and disperse (for lack of a better word) it over more area. You would still get hurt, but just not as severly as the horse stepping directly on you. New technology has created the "airbag" vest, which is supposed to help soften the impact and still be able to disperse the hoof strike._


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## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

Huh, I never knew that Velvet. I always thought that the vests on the market today *that are certified and approved through ASTM and BETA*, made it through the testings to ensure safety and protection *to the best of their abilities* to the rider. Rotational Falls, hitting the fence, getting stepped on, impactions and all those "fun" things you can think of that can happen to you out on the CC course...lol

I assumed that's why Tipperaries cannot pass the needed tests to become certified or approved - because of how the panels are designed, and the laces on the side. Guess that makes sense though.

I never knew they were just for protection from being stepped on.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

VelvetsAB said:


> _To the best of my knowledge, vests were first created to help prevent injury when a person fell off and was stepped on by a horse....not for impact of falling off. _


That was my understanding too. Although I can see the vest can help if you fell on fence or the jump post or something similar unpleasant.


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_I tried to google it, but couldn't come up with anything..thats why I said to the best of my knowledge. When the vests were *first* invented, they weren't so worried about about the rotational falls or the people landing on a fence, but getting stepped on, as that seemed to be the main injury (possibly in jockies?) ,eons ago of course. Now of course with all the certifications a vest needs, then yes, they are trying to prevent what you said MIE.... the rotational falls, people hitting fences. But you also have to remember that cross country courses were much much different when the vest came out, and there were probably fewer injuries, but as the layout changes, it became more and more apparent that the vests needed to be of better quality and design that they had been before._

_Bull riders actually have better made vests then we do as they have a bit of kevlar in their vests, compared to just our high density foam stuff. _

_Again....this is all to the best of my knowledge._


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