Body Protectors

[roseyposeysmum]

Just after a little bit of advice.

My gorgeous 4 year old dd is staring pony riding lessons at the end of the month, she has been waiting for ages to finally start lessons and is so excited. We have ahd a look around some riding schools and i have noticed a lot of kids seem to wear the body protectors. my dd is tall but so skinny and the thought of anything happening to her would be horrible. Is it wise to get her one for when she starts, or wait until she is doing faster work or jumping etc.

None of this stuff was about when i learnt to ride, but in those days we would ride the horses up to the feidls bareback with just headcollars and no hats (naughty i know) but there will be no way she will be doing this.

Anybody got any advice on when she should start wearing one ?

I'd leave it a few weeks to check that she still likes riding, but then I'd get her one - you need to go to a shop who have a range of makes and a qualified fitter

Never too young to start wearing a body protector. DD had one from aged 2 and then when she was 7 she went up to a Rodney Powell.

Hat is probably most important but a BP is a necessity as well - even if just trotting because that is when she may be most unbalanced.

Riding school ponies can be naughty too - there was a thread quite recently where a little girl had fallen off in an indoor school because the riding school pony had spooked. I would definitely get her a back protector, though perhaps she can borrow to start with? I wouldn't compromise on the hat though - and get it fitted properly too. Your local saddlers should be able to fit the hat and back protector correctly.

It's never too early to get into good habits and if you present her with the idea that she needs both hat and BP to get on a horse you won't need to convince her about it later on.

Well, dd has one, but only really wears I for fast jumpy stuff nowadays when her balance and control are very good. Back in the day, she wore it for most things. The problem I find with them is that even fitted properly, they can be quite restrictive and affect their posture.