Horse Pilot Airbags: Twist'Air vs E-Twist'Air — Which Should You Choose?

Horse Pilot makes two airbag vests, and the question I keep getting from riders at shows is refreshingly simple: which one? The honest answer is that both protect the same parts of your body — chest, ribs, spine, neck, abdomen — to the same French safety standard. The real difference is how they fire. The Twist'Air is mechanical: a strap connects you to the saddle, and when you part company with it faster than the strap allows, the airbag inflates. The E-Twist'Air does away with the cable entirely, using an In&motion electronic unit that reads your movement a thousand times a second and decides, on its own, that you're falling.

As stocked at iRide EQ.

Both are made in France by Horse Pilot, a certified B Corp that has quietly become the reference point for technical riding wear. Both meet the NF S72-800:2022 standard — the French AFNOR standard written specifically for equestrian airbags, covering deployment speed, protection zone, inflation pressure and material strength. Neither is a body protector, and neither replaces one. What follows is how the two systems actually work, what they cost to run in Australia, and which one fits the way you ride.

More Australian show jumpers are wearing airbags in the warm-up ring — the question is which deployment system suits your riding.

Two airbags, one French obsession with rider protection

Horse Pilot doesn't do decorative gear. The French brand — founded by riders, run as a certified B Corp — builds apparel around a simple philosophy: protection and freedom of movement aren't trade-offs, they're the same design problem. The airbag range is where that philosophy gets stress-tested most publicly, because an airbag only matters in the half-second you can't rehearse.

Both vests sit close to the body, use stretch and breathable materials, and are cut to avoid riding up under a show jacket. The protection zone is identical: a cushion forms around the torso to protect the neck, chest and ribs, spine and abdomen before you hit the ground. That's the brief. How each vest gets there is where the comparison gets interesting.

As stocked at iRide EQ.

The Twist'Air: a cable, a trigger ball, and proof it works

The Twist'Air is the mechanical option, and it's the one Australian riders can buy locally today. A saddle strap anchors to the stirrup bars or girth straps; a lanyard runs from the vest to that strap. In a fall, the distance between you and the saddle becomes abnormal, the pin releases, and the CO₂ cartridge fires — the vest inflates in a fraction of a second, before you hit the ground. No batteries, no sensors, no decisions to trust. Tension on the strap is the entire decision-making system, and it's one that's been proven across years of use in European competition.

It's lightweight and breathable enough to wear through an Australian summer schooling session, and because it's mechanical, there's no ongoing technology fee — you buy the vest, the cartridge, and the leash, and you're riding. After any deployment you fit a new gas cartridge (we stock them for $60) and reset the system. Horse Pilot recommends servicing every 2 years or 5 activations, handled through In&motion.

The Twist'Air in Black - the mechanical system sits flat under a show jacket.

The E-Twist'Air: no cable, no accidental triggers

The E-Twist'Air is the next step, and it's the one that gets the technology headlines. There's no lanyard at all. An In&motion electronic unit sits inside the vest, reading your movement in real time through a six-axis sensor — around a thousand measurements per second. When it detects the signature of a fall, it deploys the airbag in under 60 milliseconds, including in rotational falls where a rider can travel away from the saddle before a mechanical strap would even register tension.

That cable-free design solves the mechanical vest's honest weaknesses: there's no strap to clip and unclip every time you mount, no accidental trigger when you hop off and forget, no leash snagging on a jump standard. The trade-off is cost and complexity. In Europe the E-Twist'Air carries a recommended retail price of around €490 for the vest, with the electronic system activated through In&motion — either a monthly subscription or a one-time purchase. Servicing runs on a longer interval than the mechanical version (every 5 years or 8 activations), but the electronic unit is another system to charge, update and trust.

Full transparency: the E-Twist'Air isn't currently part of our range at iRide EQ — Australian riders we've spoken to are buying it direct from Horse Pilot internationally, which means international shipping, no local servicing network, and a price that moves with the exchange rate. If you want airbag protection with local stock, local pricing in AUD and a replacement cartridge that arrives in days rather than weeks, the Twist'Air is the practical choice right now.

So which one suits your riding?

Here's how I'd break the decision down at a typical Ag show fence-sitting session. If you ride one horse, mount and dismount a handful of times a day, and want the simplest system with the lowest running costs — the Twist'Air wins on economics alone. At $950 AUD for the unisex vest (and the same for the Junior version for young riders), with cartridges at $60 and the leash at $80, you're fully equipped for the cost of the vest plus a few spare cartridges.

The E-Twist'Air earns its keep for riders who mount multiple horses a day — instructors, breakers, riders on a busy lorry yard — where clipping and unclipping fifty times a day gets old fast. Cable-free also appeals to riders who cross-country school or jump young horses, where the risk of an accidental trigger or a snagged lanyard is real. You're paying more, in subscription or one-off activation, for discretion and freedom.

One rule applies to both: airbags are optional in EA and FEI competition. Nothing in the EA rulebook requires one, in any discipline — they're a personal safety choice, usually worn under your competition wear, not a substitute for a certified helmet or a body protector where one is required. If you're unsure what's required at your level, check the current EA rules before show day rather than relying on what everyone else in the warm-up is wearing.

Worth pairing either vest with the right layers — a snug base layer under the vest keeps the fit close, which matters for deployment, and Horse Pilot's airbag-compatible clothing is cut to work with the vest rather than bunch under it. A properly fitted riding helmet remains the non-negotiable; the airbag protects your torso, not your head. You can browse the full local range on the Horse Pilot collection page at iRide EQ, including the airbag kit and compatible outer shell.

What ownership actually costs in Australia

People budget for the vest and forget the running costs, so here they are. Twist'Air: replacement gas cartridge $60 (keep a spare — a deployed vest without a cartridge is a very expensive hoodie), replacement leash $80, servicing every 2 years or 5 activations. E-Twist'Air: activation via In&motion subscription or one-time fee, charging the electronic unit, and servicing every 5 years or 8 activations through Horse Pilot. Neither system is expensive to run; both are cheaper than a single ambulance trip. The honest difference is that the mechanical costs are all visible up front, and the electronic's costs depend on the activation model you choose.

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