Ian Millar (who represented Canada in the 10 Games of 1972, 1976, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012) shows that unlike boxing and bull riding, most equestrian disciplines don't involve hoping to retire before the brain damage catches up with you.

(also my understanding of the curve, based on our national level hospital statistics, is that a substantial fraction of the really bad wrecks happen to people with under 500 hours)

mmm. Depends on what you consider the "sport."

My wife's a horse trainer. I could go down a long list of injuries of various severity that she's suffered over the years. There's at least one concussion (that I know of!) in there and a solid whack to the face that drew lots of blood but no other noticeable injury.

And that reminds me of the software developer I used to work with who was also previously a horse trainer but switched to software after being run over and breaking five ribs.

Unfortunately, this stuff is considered expected and accepted [shrug].

I'm assuming most riders aren't trainers, though. That seems like a different and likely riskier activity than riding an already-trained horse?

One can only hope :-)

Then again, I knew someone whose wife did intake at a nearby ER and pretty much all of their equine-related injuries came from the same trail riding outfit nearby!