Do you/would you ever ride without a crash hat?
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alipene
Posts: 945 Member
Just curious...I wouldn't :noway:
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Have many times - when I grew up helmets were only for over-fences and even then they were just for looks in the show ring, not secured by proper harness.
I didn't start wearing a protective helmet until I was an adult, and I wear one just about 100% of the time now. Funny that I don't usually wear on when driving (which I do much more often than ride) - even after wrecking carts several times.0 -
Nope! Too many random acts of god, more so when mounted!0
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Never never never!!0
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I'm in the same group as nis75. When I was growing up you only wore helmets to jump or flat races. When you showed, they were velvet hunt caps with no harness. Those early crash helmets were modeled on jockey "skull caps" and you looked like your head was encased in a ping pong ball and since they had no air vents...not nice in summer! My first husband was from Germany and never wore a "real" crash helmet in his life except when he came to this country and did cross country in eventing. Until about 5 years ago, I'd say that very few Germans wore them except when jumping. None of the western riders I grew up with wore them, ever. I've been unable to ride for almost two years due to bad surgeries, but I have to admit, when I start back up with any seriousness, I'll probably wear a helmet now--they are so much better designed and comfortable than they used to be.0
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I have never ridden with one. Of course I ride western and I used to show western pleasure, trail, etc. I typically just trail ride now but never do wear a helmet. I wont let my daughter ride without one though.0
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i only ride in a helmet for english lessons, and sometimes on our horse if im trying something different and i'm unsure of the horses reactions. but generally i dont wear one.0
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I do not ride with a helmet ever. Most of my riding is western pleasure trail riding and mountain riding. I hate them. Now on the other hand my son is not allowed on my horse without his helmet on.0
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I don't ride with a helmet. It makes me look like a Marsian and it makes my head sweat! I know I should wear it if I value my safety, though!!0
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Every single time, absolutely. And I would never let a student in my ring without one. ANYTHING can happen and my helmet has saved my life too many times.
Watch "Every Time, Every Ride." It will change your outlook.0 -
I always wear a helmet. To me, putting on a helmet is just as natural as buckling my seat belt.0
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Buckling a seat belt wasn't something I did as a kid either. The "good old days" of cruising down the interstate for family vacations, us four kids stuffed in the back of a Dodge Dart. I remember one trip, as us kids got bigger, where one of the smaller siblings rode 1900 miles seated on a pillow placed over the emergency brake between the front bucket seats! Now that I'm a grownup, I buckle my seat belt close to 100% of the time, just like I wear a helmet when I ride close to 100% of the time
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7 weeks ago for the first time ever I decided to ride without one.. Guess who landed head first on concrete and cracked her skull open, lost her hearing, fell unconscious and had internal bleeding to the brain?
If you guessed me you got it in one. My pony is probably one of the safest most laid back ponies going. Just goes to show it can happen to anyone and no horse is completely bomb proof.
Never ever again am I getting on without one. Spending a week in intensive care before moving to a normal ward, having blood tests every day, being woken up every hour of the night and being on a drip was definitely not worth it. Not including 3 months without riding, exercising, drinking, working or driving.
My life is now on pause after one minute of madness
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Glad you are back Jess and on the road to recovery :flowerforyou: I started this thread a day or so before you posted that you'd had your accident, I think. There's irony for you. It's so true that it can be any horse at any time. I don't think I've ever ridden without a hat/helmet in my life. I've come off a few times and ended up hospitalised with concussion once, and it's always a stark reminder that riding can be dangerous.0
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NOPE0
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I would never ride without putting my hat on....in fact I would never start tacking my horse up without my hat on.
This harks back to my stable management lessons and then subsequently working for my local riding school where you had to have your hat on your head once you were on the yard NOT MATTER WHAT, especially when in the stables.
Mine gets changed around every 5 years, even if I haven't come off as I don't know what knocks it takes when I'm not around - it's hung up in our container tack room but so are everyone else's.
The one story that stands out for me is after the indoor school had been built at my local yard and the mirrors had been put up. It really schocked one of the horses, who had a major spook and reared up. The lady who was riding him fell to the outside of the school and as she came off, hit her head on one of the steal girders that supports the structure. Luckily she was wearing her hat and even though she had to go to A&E but was only slightly concussed and nothing more. I dread to think what would have happened had she not had her hat on.
Plus I've come off far too many times and hit my head to know not to ride without one but it is common sense, especially if hacking out.
Personally I think the government should make it the law for all riders to wear hats, the same as all bike riders have to.0 -
I wear mine, and not because anything bad happened to me, but because bad stuff happens sometimes with horses! I can attest to that with my collection of injuries and surgeries, and most of us probably can speak to similar injuries and incidents.
The second to last time I fell off, I was on a gravel road, and I hit my non-helmeted head on the ground. Not concussion hard, just enough to have a little bump on the side of my head that was sore for a few days. My hip where I landed hurt worse and for longer, but I decided that day to start wearing my helmet every time. I often ride out alone, on trails that aren't well traveled. I take my cell phone, wear bright colors, and now add a helmet to my safety precautions. I feel lucky for all the years I didn't get a head injury when I didn't wear a helmet! The last time I fell off, I had a helmet on, and my head never came near the road. My horse dumped me quite politely on my butt in a soft patch of sand, but I wasn't sad on the way down that I had a helmet on!
I just bought a new helmet, and I spent a bit of money to get a nicer one. It was worth the money for the comfort and ventilation options, and hopefully it just looks good on my head for years and I never need it for it's intended purpose!0 -
(Hi - sorry if I'm barging in, new to this site!)
I didn't have a helmet as a child, like a lot of you, but would never ride without one now. In fact, I always wear a body protector as well, at least for the moment. I came off a few days before Halloween. I was riding a young horse in a new saddle, still don't know exactly what happened because I have no memory from between adjusting my stirrups to being draped over the fence by another rider. My visual memory doesn't return for another 15 minutes or so, when we were on our way to A&E.
Luckily, I was wearing a helmet (ended up with a slight concussion anyway), but I broke a rib and then got pneumonia from that, so I was out of action for a good while. Fortunately, I decided to try out the saddle in the paddock before heading out to the forest, which would have taken us along a dual carriageway!
So now: helmet, always. Body protector when I'm riding out or doing any jumping or feeling uncertain for any reason. Always, at the moment, because I'm loaning a new horse and don't quite know how he'll react to things; we've had a few bolts. But I've given up riding youngsters for the moment until I get my confidence back...0 -
OKA,
what a story. I hate loosing time! I am glad you are staying away from the youngsters for awhile.
I should wear a helmet all the time. I have had close calls in the field when one horse charges another. It's hard to keep,your eyes on 12 horses!
And even in-hand and other ground work. I actually stopped riding during the barns lesson time, 10-12. Got sick of being run over by novices!
Take Care of Yourself!0 -
Salsa,
Very good recommendations. I should just wear the darn thing as soon as I arrive at the barn!
Dawn0 -
That's a good point - I ought to get in the habit of wearing it during groundwork, he tends to get distracted and swing his head around. (We're working on it - the owner bought him as a status symbol and doesn't ride, so he's a little ignorant, poor boy.)0
