Horse Riding Safety Checklist: Before, During and After Your Ride

Before your ride

Do this while you are still on the ground. If you are already late, skip the extra loop, not the hat and the girth.

Horse

• Legs, back, and girth area checked for heat, rubs, or a new swelling.
• Feet or shoes looked at, including a shoe that has shifted.
• Horse walking sound in the yard. If it is lame, do not hack out to test it.
• The horse is one you can manage on today's route, in today's wind and company.

Tack

• Stitching on reins and stirrup leathers intact.
• Girth straight and done up, then checked again after you have walked on.
• Nummah flat. Bit clear of hay. Keepers fastened.
• Stirrups the right size for your boots, leathers level.

You

• Hat fitted and fastened. Replace it after a serious impact.
• Boots with a heel. Gloves if you want them. Body protector if you use one for this ride.
• Hi-vis on you, and on the horse if you will use a road or the light is poor.
• Phone on your body, charged, yard number saved.

Plan

• Weather checked for the whole ride, including the way home.
• Route named, including where you can turn around.
• A trusted person told: where you start, the route, who is with you, which horse, and the time you expect to be back. See what someone should know.
• You know what they should do if that time passes and they cannot reach you.

During your ride

The list is short on purpose. The job is to notice when the plan you made in the yard no longer matches the horse, the ground, or the clock.

• Walk the first minutes. Recheck the girth.
• On roads in the UK, keep left, ride predictably, and assume you have not been seen.
• Slow for dogs, children, bikes, and anyone who is unsure of horses. Ask for a dog to be held rather than squeezing past.
• Pass hazards with room. If the horse will not go forward, wait or turn around.
• If the going, the light, or the horse changes, shorten the ride.
• If you will be later than you said, message the person who has your plan, when you have signal.
• Keep the phone where you can reach it. Headphones that block traffic are a bad trade.

A longer day needs more than this list: water, a realistic distance, and a finish that does not depend on heroics. Use long horse ride preparation when the loop is bigger than your usual hack.

If something goes wrong

Stop the scene getting worse, then decide who you need. A hurt rider and a loose shoe are different phone calls.

• Get out of traffic if you can do so safely. Ask someone to warn vehicles rather than standing in the road yourself.
• Call 999 if a rider is unconscious, struggling to breathe, bleeding heavily, confused, fitting, or you suspect a head, neck, or back injury.
• Leave a riding hat on unless it is stopping the person from breathing. Ask them to stay still.
• Catch a loose horse only if you can do it without putting people at more risk.
• If everyone is alert and walking, you can still choose to lead home or call the yard. Getting back on is optional.

That is the emergency line, not a treatment guide. What to do if you fall off your horse explains the difference, and it is not medical advice. A friend with a trailer is the right call for a lost shoe and a sound horse. An ambulance is the right call for a hurt rider.

When you return

The ride is not finished when you dismount. Close the plan you left with someone else, then look at the horse.

• Tell the person who had your plan that you are back. Finish a shared ride if you started one.
• Walk the horse cool if it needs it. Check legs and back for new knocks.
• Note a lost shoe, a rub, or a scare so the next ride accounts for it.
• If you hit the ground, replace the hat if it took an impact, and watch for symptoms that show up later. Seek medical help if you are worried.
• Tell the yard about a hazard others will meet: wire, a hole, a flooded path, a dog that chased you.
• Untack properly. A ride is finished when the horse is comfortable, not when you have sat down.

Print the list or save the page. The value is using it on an ordinary Tuesday, when nothing feels urgent, so that the urgent day is less likely.