Saddle Up Safely, a unique collaboration of University of Kentucky (UK) entities as well as equine industry and Lexington community partners, celebrated its third year this past October with a day at the Keeneland races and a fundraising silent auction for the program.

UK HealthCare partnered with UK colleges of Agriculture and Public Health to launch the five-year educational campaign to raise awareness about horseback riding and horse handling safety. Nearly 50 community partners have joined in to help spread the word and collectively make a great sport safer.

The statistics underscore the need. According to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System’s 2007 estimates, millions of people ride horses each year, generating approximately 79,000 emergency room visits, with more than 13% of those admitted to the hospital. While motorcycle riders experience a serious injury every 7,000 hours of riding, horseback riders experience one every 350 hours, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is estimated that one in five equestrians will be seriously injured during their riding careers. And novice riders, especially children and young adults, are eight times more likely to suffer a serious injury than professional equestrians.

According to Bill Gombeski, MBA, MPH, director of strategic marketing at UK HealthCare and Saddle up Safely lead, the campaign set out to counter some of these statistics through education and awareness