This weekend saw the return of just one popular sport involving horses; Horse Racing. The Grand National at Aintree attracted nearly 10 million UK television viewers and in the region of 150,000 spectators.

As is often the case it also featured injury whereby one horse was killed after it was brought down at the first fence and two other horses sadly died on day two of the meeting. Horse related sports can be extremely dangerous for both the horse and the rider when things go wrong.

In the UK there are over 19 million equestrian consumers with approximately 1 million horses in Britain alone. They can be the source of a career for some and simply a hobby for others, however horses can be unpredictable and when injuries are suffered they can be very serious. Along with road traffic accidents, equestrians have one of the highest rates of injuries.

Statistics indicate that over 63% of ‘human generated injuries’ could have been prevented. Of 266 cases of injured equestrians, 16% were caused by other people and, of those, 63% were considered preventable by riding safety experts. 51% were considered preventable by the injured party. According to Equimed there are five main causes of horse related injuries which include;

  • lack of proper training of rider and/or horse,
  • rider’s lack of understanding of the horse psyche and behaviour,
  • lack of proper equipment and attire for horse and rider,
  • inattention on part of rider or others around horses,
  • and a lack of preparation for unusual situations.

The Horse and Hounds regularly feature articles on injuries sustained by horses and riders as a result of road traffic accidents and the British Horse Association continuously urge those injured to report the same. Accidents may also occur because of un-trained/inexperienced teachers.

In the event of injuries suffered as a result of a road traffic accident or of un-trained or inexperienced teachers, the injured party may have grounds to make a claim for compensation. Compensation claims often allow the injured party to fund rehabilitation, reclaim loss of earnings if the injury resulted in them having to take time off work or fund future care as a result of serious injuries sustained.

Here at Farleys we deal with a myriad of claims that involve horses. If you have sustained injury as a result of a horse related accident please contact our equine law team on 0845 287 0939 or complete our online enquiry form and a member of the team will get in touch with you.