Vibration exposure during riding

Status:

completed 10/2000

Aims:

Several hours of riding a day when practised for years may lead to low back pain especially in the case of professional riders and riding masters. To lay the basis for a risk assessment and allow for preventive measures to be identified, the project is aimed to determine the vibration exposure caused by the typical paces of a horse.

Activities/Methods:

Two measurements were conducted to determine the vibration exposure: one measurement on a hard moving carpet without the effect of centrifugal forces and one measurement on damping sandy ground during circle riding. For both measurements paces and speeds were the same. Measurements were conducted under the saddle, on the saddle and within the jodhpurs. Measurement directions were: back-breast of the rider, shoulder-shoulder of the rider and the direction of the rider's spine. The project was initiated by the institution for statutory accident insurance and prevention in the administrative sector (banks, insurance companies, administrations, liberal professions and special untertakings).

Results:

Vibrations arising during riding are, unlike those on vehicles, predictable. The results suggest that the vibrations arising during riding may present problems in some cases. The evaluation criteria which have been deduced for non- predictable vehicle vibrations do not however permit reliable conclusions when applied to riding. Approaches for effective prevention measures consist in the first instance in good rider training, in which riders learn damping movements by which compensation can be made for the vibrations produced by the horse.

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