Accident Procedures for Students
1. Any fall, kick or accident that is suspected to have resulted in a head injury or whip-lash:
2. Other injuries from a fall, being stepped on, bit or kicked by a horse
- Students are not permitted to get back on their horse after a fall with a suspected head injury, concussion, back or neck injury/pain or whiplash
- We strongly recommend seeing a medical professional to determine if there was a concussion or whiplash and to have any back or neck pain examined
- Students/parents/guardians please read the Equine Canada and Sport Manitoba concussion education guidelines, baseline test and return to play policies: https://www.sagehillstables.com/concussion-guidelines.html
- Helmets need to be discarded in the case of an incident (fall or kick) that caused impact to the helmet. Students can borrow a Sagehill helmet if needed or coaches can reschedule your lesson until you can get a new helmet. Please cut the straps so that it cannot be used by another student
- Please notify Sagehill directly of any doctor’s updates and recommendations
- Students are required to have a doctor’s note to return to play. We can reschedule lessons as needed until the student is cleared to return to play. Please email them to [email protected]
2. Other injuries from a fall, being stepped on, bit or kicked by a horse
- We strongly recommend seeing a medical professional to examine injured areas to ensure that there is no risk of further injury from continued riding or working around horses, especially in the case of suspected breaks or fractures
- Open wounds should be cleaned and bandaged immediately and be monitored for signs of infection, and seek medical attention if showing signs of infection
- Students can return to ride if they are comfortable that the injury will not worsen from working around/with horses or riding horses and if they can complete all horse care and riding tasks safely, considering the risks of working with and riding live animals. We can reschedule lessons as needed until the student is comfortable returning to lessons and horse care activities.
Accident Procedures for Horses
No matter the reason for the incident, any accident/incident in the lesson program can negatively affect a students experience at our business and affect their perception and treatment of horses. It is important that we do our best to ensure that horse welfare is always considered first before training, and that student skill is always matched appropriately with the lesson horses to avoid accidents.
5. If a horse continues to have similar issues following a vet check/vet treatment and adjustment of student level, the use-fullness of the horse in the lesson program needs to be re-evaluated.
- If a horse is involved in an accident (fall, bite, kick or other), an accident report must be filled out before the coach or staff leaves the property.
- A horse involved in an accident requires an assessment before being used in lessons again:
- The incident needs to be reviewed by the horse manager and the barn to determine the cause of the incident. If the incident has the potential to be duplicated, a coach will use or ride the horse through the scenario to assess if the cause was horse or human error.
- If the vet cannot find any signs of pain/discomfort, or following treatment for the issue, the horse can then receive training if necessary for the behavior or training issue
5. If a horse continues to have similar issues following a vet check/vet treatment and adjustment of student level, the use-fullness of the horse in the lesson program needs to be re-evaluated.