Horse Riding in the Paralympics: A Dark Horse?

Horse-riding is an immensely popular sport, with an estimated 15 million horse-riders in Europe alone, the adoption of dressage in the Paralympic games in 1996 was inevitable, if not overdue. Dressage, from the French word for preparation or training, is an intricately choreographed performance where riders guide their own horses through a series of obstacles during a ‘test’.

There are several medals available from these tests, in team and individual formats, awarded by judges who score the riders based on individual movements and the routine as a whole. Paralympians participating in dressage are classified and given a grade according to the level of their impairment; the expectations of, and hence scoring by the judges are based on this grade level. Visually impaired riders can even use specially located ‘callers’ to help them find their way around by ear. The sport is generally safe and accidents are infrequent – however, falling from a horse can be very dangerous and often results in fractured limbs. For this reason, riders wear protective equipment, which must be stringently tested to ensure satisfactory performance in the event of an accident.

Read here how our drop-towers can be used to provide safety assurance for this classic sport.