Rules for Safety in the Equestrian Sector

Objectives In equestrian activities, more frequently that in other sports, we can find many risks of serious traumatic events, such as falls, crushing and kicks. It’s essential therefore that who works in this field, integrates his own knowledge of horse with that of prevention systems and methods. This involves that an equestrian safety fundamental element is the understanding of horses’ attitudes and instincts and that all the actions around him are developed so to create him as less as possible emotional conflicts. From here the necessity to follow adeguate procedures to reduce the risks to which are exposed the operators that deal with the management of horses. The most frequent risks are the aggressive actions of the animal, also not deliberate (kicks, crushing with arts or with the body); traumas following accidental falls at ground level caused or by conditions of flooring or by lack of protections; traumas owed to horse falls without the helmet; traumas determined by the use of tools and/or equipments for the maintenance of structures and those provoked by exposure to dusts and allergenes of animal origin. Methods Safety rules should always be known to all the operators and put into effect in every phase of any activity that contains an interaction between man and horse and should be respected, in every least detail, during the carrying out of any procedure. We have analyzed therefore the approach that the operator must hold with the horse leading it from the ground, the operations of grooming, the procedures of putting and removing the saddle, the positioning of bridles with the bit or without, the ground management. We have entered the detail on the methods to get in saddle and to get back on the ground as well as on the actions use in case of unexpected difficulties or defences of the horse while riding. At last we have studied the procedures for horses’ feeding both in the stalls that in paddocks. Nevertheless, also proceeding in safety, it must not be forgotten that all these operations are however subject to risk factors which are not entirely eliminable. For this it is fundamental that the methods adopted by the employees are conscientiously applied and therefore that every behaviour is always regulated by clear and precise rules, above all never neglected. Results The analyzed procedures aim to teach management habits for each one’s own working life and safety in the contact with horses and at the same time they assure to the firm a good operativity and productivity that will make it competitive towards those firms in which safety fundamental concepts are lacking. A working activity based on safety and on the application of rules of prevention surely brings to the appeasement of operators involved which will be able to operate in greater serenity conditions.