How Long Is Too Long For An Equestrian Body Protector?
A lot of the body protectors that we carry will come in different front lengths and different back lengths. A body protector is designed to cover your last rib on the front of your body so your abdomen is normally exposed and then the back length is a little bit flexible and depending, or dependent, upon what you're doing in the saddle, and what discipline you're riding. For the front length, we want the vest to cover your front ribs. We're actually going to be feeling for your front ribs, and I like to have one to two fingers width of coverage below that, but I don't want to go so long that I can't hinge at the waist.
And tuck and roll in the events of a fall. So we really are looking to feel for that front rib, that last front rib, and go justslightly below that. For the back length, I definitely don't want to be so long that I'm hitting the saddle because if I do that, it's going to push the entire vest up from the shoulders and potentially interfere with the helmets. So typically we are looking for one hand width from the base of the saddle to the bottom of the vest. But if I'm working with an eventer that is maybe going up the levels, getting into prelim, intermediate, one star, two star, and above, they are dropping down into bigger water and deeper. More angled banks, which means they are leaning much further back. And if we go too long, the risk is to get caught on the back of the saddle. So as we go up the levels, we actually go shorter in length on the back to prevent having that type of interference.
