Injuries. Even one is too many. When I explained how my riding school works to a friend whose son also rides horses, he said that God is looking after us. I hope he was right as far as God is concerned. And we try very hard to make his job easier.
All horses are thoroughly trained and checked before riders get on them. Everybody can see that because I break new horses in in front of my riders. It took a year to break some of them in before better riders were allowed to ride them.
We have very quality saddles and most of them has a protective basket on the stirrups.
I personally lead all rides and watch over my riders like a hawk.
horses are kept outside of the barn all year long where they often have to walk over slippery mud, and they've became extremely slick. Because of that, our trail rides are done at all weather conditions and they are very hard, but also safe.
The result is altogether two injuries so far. One happened in the beginning while I was teaching canter in the round pen, 4 broken ribs. The other happened a year later while jumping over a creek. We haven't had a single injury for the last 4 years. Now, who still thinks that horseback riding is a dangerous sport? :)
