Safety & Risk: A Survey

Happy August everyone! Don't be fooled by the recent lull in activity around here - there are thoughts bumping around in my mind, much like a lapidary rolls rough bits of gravel around until out pops smooth gleaming stone.

Except. Well. I can't promise any real gems - but I'm going to try!

All is quiet on the riding front since I haven't actually breathed in the smell of a horse since last week's lesson on Wick. There are plans tho. Slow to develop, but hopefully exciting all the same. More later.

gotta love when helmet cams catch that precise moment when things went from "ho hum" to "rider meet earth"

In the meantime, there's another topic on my mind right now. You all might have noticed I haven't been keeping up with my own posts (or yours - so sorry, will hopefully fix that soon!) this last week as I've been out of town.

There was one notable exception tho. The subject of the relative safety of an externally mounted helmet camera cropped up in my last post's comments section, and prompted me to pull away from work for a minute to expound (at great length) about my thoughts there.

Mostly because I'm puzzling through my opinions on the topic of safety and risk. I've got opinions on the matter, perhaps to come out in a post later, but am generally struggling in organizing my thoughts. I mean, we ride horses, and riding horses is inherently risky, right? There's more to it than that, tho, of course.

And. The thing is. I'm a data scientist by nature and profession. It's not enough for me to shape my own opinions, or allow myself to be influenced by one compelling argument or another. I need more, always more. I want numbers, folks.

equipment failures are expected to be a frequent source of woe

So I pulled together a brief 10 question survey. Shouldn't take longer than a couple minutes to click through.

The survey ranges through a couple areas on how you make choices about your equipment, your experiences with said equipment, and some basic details on your horsey backgrounds. It's pointed towards a more english-oriented audience simply because that's my experience - but please do not let that prevent you from adding your voice should you be so inclined.

And here's where I need your help. The laws of statistical significance and whatnot say I can probably pull a large enough sample for drawing conclusions just from you who visit regularly. I'm feeling a little greedy tho.

it's generally not advisable to mix sliding stops with jumping

So. I ask that you please click through the survey. And. If you are interested in seeing the results from it, please consider sharing it through your own channels, whether that be your own blog or facebook or whatever.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WQ8CJFL

The survey will be open for two weeks, closing the morning of August 15. And to sweeten the deal, one random participant will be chosen to win a $25 gift certificate to Riding Warehouse. Extra contest entries to those who share (let me know in the comments).

Thanks in advance for you participation - and please also chime in below with your thoughts etc in the comments!