Improving the safety of our sport for both horse and rider is a priority for US Equestrian. At the 2026 Annual Meeting in Louisville, Ky., a session titled “Equestrian Safety: Are We Ready?” discussed how aspects such as data collection and concussion management can make equestrian sport safer.  

Moderator David O’Connor, US Equestrian Chief of Sport, opened the panel discussion by stating that there are 1.77 million “starts” in USEF-licensed competitions each year, which breaks down to 35,000 people going into a ring each week. With that number of annual competitors, there are inevitably going to be accidents. The goal of all disciplines should be minimizing risk, and to meet that end, USEF began tracking initially horse falls — and now also rider falls — in order to collect uniform and actionable fall data across all levels of competition. US Equestrian began recording all horse and rider falls in 2024 (though some disciplines had reporting requirements for horse falls much earlier). 

In the 2025 competition year, US Equestrian recorded 222 horse falls and 7,552 rider falls. 

“When you divide that up, it doesn’t sound like a lot when you have 1.7 million people [going in the ring each week], but it’s actually 151 falls a week,” said O’Connor. “We have to ask the question, ‘Are we ready? Can we handle that?’ Some of them will come with injuries and some will not. What can we do to minimize this?” 

In the early stages of data collection like this, O’Connor said his experience with FEI eventing data suggests that incidents are likely underreported. It will take several more years to get a reliable statistical baseline, complete information, and to break out data so each breed and discipline can begin examining how to minimize risk.  

“In the future, in the next two or three or four years we will come back and I think every one of the sports will have to look at that and make decisions yourselves about how we minimize risk,” said O’Connor. “That’s part of where this conversation starts.” 

In the meantime, equestrian sports can learn from others about how to mitigate risk of injury in inevitable falls. 

 Dr. Mark Hart, USEF Chairman Human and Equine Safety & Welfare Committee, went on to emphasize that falls are not limited to competitions or show grounds.  

“It’s important to get competition data, but I want people to recognize the vast majority of falls do not happen at competitions. They happen at home. They happen when we're training,” he added. “This is the tip of the iceberg as far as injuries.”  

Studies show that the number one sport for sport-related injuries seen in emergency room is equestrian. 

Of course, the first line of defense is a good helmet. As we see advancements in personal protective equipment, we have to also factor in traditions of each sport and rider acceptance, which is influenced by fit, comfort and restriction of movement.  

Another aspect for manufacturers and consumers is cost efficiency.  

“Anytime we, as an organization, have a new rule or new policy, there are consequences that we have to be aware of,” Dr. Hart said.  

There are also a number of international safety standards, which can sometimes be confusing and expensive. 

“Helmets are great at making sure your head is not going to get crushed. The helmets are really good about that. However, they're not all the same when it comes to reducing concussions,” said Dr. Hart.  

Data shows that the rotational energy in a fall has more to do with concussions than linear falls, and helmet designs have to reflect that.  

Hart also highlighted a lack of specific data on safety vest and body protectors for equestrians, which is the center of a new research project spearheaded by US Equestrian, US Hunter Jumper Association, and the FEI.  

Kristy Arbogast, PhD, Director of Engineering at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, explained how her work with NFL helmet safety can accelerate progress in the equestrian space. 

“My perspective as an engineer thinks about different levels of prevention. We think about it as primary, secondary, and tertiary,” Dr. Arbogast said. “Primary [prevention] is where I live a lot. Let's prevent the event from happening in the first place, but we know injuries will happen. You are in a sport that is high velocity. You're on a very tall horse. There is a lot going on, so injuries are going to happen, and that's where we think about both secondary and tertiary prevention.” 

Dr. Arbogast went on to reveal the three Es of injury prevention: education, engineering, and enforcement.  

“How do we get information to the people on the front lines on the ground who are participating in your sport?” she asked. 

NFL safety culture has been positively impacted by the implementation of helmet posters that hang in the locker room of every NFL team. They use biomechanics and engineering information to rank helmets as red, yellow or green in terms of safety in order to drive behavior change. It is updated each year and educates players to make smarter decisions about their helmets and motivates helmet manufacturers to actively improve their helmet safety to move up the rankings. From 2015 to 2024, helmet use in the “green” top level helmet group increased from 6% to 68% of NFL players. Dr. Arbogast referenced the Virginian Tech engineers who test and rank equestrian helmets in the laboratory in a very similar way that her team evaluates NFL helmets.  

“They use a star system similar to our red, yellow green, which is easy to understand,” she said, adding that the important thing is to translate the research and rankings into behavior change. We have to figure out what's important to riders so that they will change their behavior to take a more safety focused approach.” 

That includes better educating riders about proper helmet fit (which is cited as a reason some adults don’t wear helmets for every ride) and the need to replace a helmet after a fall (which one study showed 75 % of riders are not doing). 

Christina L. Master, MD, FAAP, CAQSM, FANSSM, a pediatrician and sports medicine specialist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, continued the conversation by focusing on concussion diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Master explained that adult concussions are the tip of the iceberg, as they are greatly outnumbered by youth concussions. However, most of the literature out there is based on adults, not children. (And a further complication is that much of the scientific data available deals with adult males, but rarely adult females, since many concussion studies are conducted on football players.) The brains and nervous systems of adolescents are rapidly developing, so they must be treated differently to their adult counterparts. Dr. Arbogast noted that an estimated 20% of adolescents nationwide will sustain a concussion, and 30% of them will experience symptoms for longer than one month. Of that 30%, 75% can need special accommodations at school and 60 % can experience a decline in grades. 

“It's important to take every concussion as an individual case and manage it differently,” Dr. Master said.  

While headaches are a commonly known symptom of concussion, other indicators include balance problems, dizziness, vision issues, sensitivity to light and sound, difficulty concentrating and remembering, irritability and mood changes.  

“When your eyes don't work well together, the system gets involved because then you don't manage motion in space very well,” Dr. Master explained. “You get dizzy, you have headaches, three-dimensional spaces and any kind of motion can be difficult, which is an issue in sports, as is balance.”  

Rapid access to clinical care from a physician who's trained in sports concussions has a direct correlation to speed of recovery. 

“The international concussion support group used to say we don't really know what we should do,” Dr. Master said. “Now we know that we should take a few days off, allow symptoms to improve, let your biology, brain and body start to heal, then graduate your activities. 

A study examining post-concussion rest found that two days was the optimum time. Those who rested for five days actually took longer to become symptom-free. A reduction in screentime also sped up recovery.  

“We're done with the days of sitting in a dark room waiting to get better from a concussion. We now have an active management return to play in a very proactive way,” Dr. Master said. “Your brain systems can be rehabilitated much the way that you rehab an ankle or back or shoulder.”  

As we await more information about rider falls, Katlynn Wilbers, USEF Director of Competition Operations, Staff Liaison Human and Equine Safety Committee, reminded the audience of the ways the Federation is here to help competitions deal with rider falls when they happen. 

Wilbers introduced the Incident Response Guide for Competition, which gives competition organizers a blueprint for how to coordinate communication, create and execute plans for inclement weather or participant injuries, and prepare for media inquiries in the wake of an emergency.  

“It's a great resource, not only for competition management, but also existing competition organizers who are questioning if their response plans are robust enough to serve their needs,” Wilbers said.  

She also stressed the importance of accurate reporting of falls, because that can inform the decisions that are made and recommendations for rule changes for best practices.  

“We understand that the data we’re seeing is only as good as what’s recorded in the field,” she explained. “If you are having trouble reporting results, please reach out to us.” 

Find more information on concussions in equestrians and safe return to sport protocols here. 

For more information on the equestrian-specific concussion return-to-sport strategy, please visit usef.org/forms-pubs/kzMxQoKQr0E/equestrian-specific-return-to-sport.  

Find a complete replay of this education session here.