When you think of dangerous sports, you might picture skydiving, mountaineering, or off-road racing.
Even football has made headlines in recent years for causing injuries such as traumatic brain injuries.
But research suggests that horseback riding could be among America’s most dangerous sports, resulting in at least 100 deaths a year — and as many as 700 by some estimates.
The danger became clear this month when a teenage Florida rider died after her horse tripped and fell on her. Hannah Serfass, 15, was attending an event in Venice, Fla. when the accident happened. The 12-year-old horse, named Quaxx, tripped and suffered a spinning fall.
A 2021 study from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley found that horseback riding poses the greatest risk of injury. This finding was based on the data shown here from injuries suffered over a ten-year period
Following Ms. Serfass’s death, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) said it “takes every accident very seriously and will thoroughly investigate the accident to learn what we can do to minimize risk and keep equestrian sport safe.” to increase”.
A 2021 study by researchers at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) concluded that horseback riding is the most dangerous sport in America.
“The risk of hospitalization for horse riding injuries is higher than for football, auto racing and skiing,” wrote the authors of the paper, published in the journal Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open.
A 2014 report by the U.S. Consumer and Product Safety Commission found that the rate of hospitalizations for riding injuries was 16.6 percent higher than that of the closest activity-enhancing all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) or motorcycles.
Football, which has long been considered highly dangerous due to the high percentage of professional players who have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, cannot even be measured.
A 2021 survey by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research found an average of 20 fatalities among soccer players of all skill levels this season. Only four were directly related to injuries sustained on the field.
Hannah Serfass, 15, died last week after her horse tripped and fell on her
Ms. Serfass has been a talented athlete all her life, first as a gymnast, then as an equestrian and athletics star
Stefan Keryan, 8, of Denver, Colorado, was pushed by a horse while on a family vacation in Belize. He was then dragged two miles down the sidewalk before the horse was stopped
Additionally, a study by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association examined deaths among middle school basketball players between 2007 and 2015. The researchers found 11 deaths in 2015 and an overall average of five per year.
Riding has also been shown to cause severe damage.
Last December, eight-year-old Denver resident Stefan Keryan was seriously injured after falling off his horse and being dragged two miles down the sidewalk. He suffered third degree burns, a fractured skull and a contusion of the brain.
“I heard screams and looked around [the horse was] As I walk past, I see that the saddle has fallen over and my son is being dragged by the foot,” Stefan’s mother. Heidi Keryan, told Good Morning America. “My older daughter and I started screaming and screaming and ran as fast as we could to get to him, but this horse was really fast.”
Although the boy is believed to have survived his injuries, he required intensive medical intervention.
The UTRGV researchers examined data from the National Trauma Data Bank, the nation’s largest database of trauma-related medical information. They found that between 2007 and 2016, 45,671 patients with horse riding injuries attended a trauma center.
About 88 percent of those patients in the database who went to the hospital had injuries severe enough to be admitted.
Chest injuries were reported most frequently, followed by injuries to the head, arms, and legs.
The researchers also said nearly 75 percent of deaths were due to head or neck injuries.
Injuries are common in equestrian sports. For example, a 2021 Ohio State University study found that 81 percent of horseback riders had suffered an injury at some point in their horseback riding career. About 21 percent of these participants had suffered a serious injury.
The researchers concluded that of all sports in the United States, equestrian sport is the leading cause of sports-related traumatic brain injury in adults.
Additionally, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) estimates that more than 48,000 people were treated in hospital emergency departments for riding injuries in 2017.
Some of the most common horseback riding injuries include the head, ankles, chest, and wrists.
A 2019 study in the journal Sports Medicine found that 70 percent of reported falls in equestrian sport resulted in a head injury. Researchers also found that wearing a properly fitting helmet could reduce the likelihood of serious injuries such as skull fractures.
A 2018 study by Cogent Food & Agriculture magazine found that the number one cause of death is when riders fall from their horses. This accounted for 83.4 percent of the incidents.
The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends all riders wear proper helmets and properly fitting boots to reduce the risk of injury. The organization also warns riders not to roll over if they feel like they are falling off their horse.
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