But this is country!

[BrendaJane]

A couple of threads made me think about this.

There is the story fo a young rider clinging to the neck of a rearing horse, leading to gasps of the onlookers.
And there is the story of a concussion…

A while back a former coworker posted a video of a guy and a little girl on a small pony. the pony runs off, the kid falls, and the guy wrestles the pony to a stop.

My eyes were bigger than saucers, and I commented on the moron who’d put his kid in danger.
THAT IS MY BROTHER (yes pretty much caps) THIS IS COUNTRY AND WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY!!!

I kept it on topic, the issue of TBIs, and what not can happen when little kids get bucked off by naughty ponies.
I did not mention all my thoughts, on how one must be a F’ing Moron to do things just because we have always done them when we know better now. Like the accumulative effect of concussions.
or the damage that can be done to both man and beast by a wrestling match in the arena.

We wore hard hats (the black silky kind with the elastic chin strap) back then, then we added harnesses to them. When we rode the TBs in training, we put the real brain buckets on.
(and oddly enough, I never bumped my head wearing a helmet, only the time I did not wear one…trying to be cool in the arena.)

I still talk with the coworker on FB, about her new house, and stuff.
She has probably removed the video but golly It was a doozie!

[Scribbler]

When I did literacy work on skid row, I would say 100 per cent of the students had casual stories that suggested childhood TBI as well as adult incidents (chemical damage was a whole other thing).

I’ve since learned that TBI can lead to impulsive behavior that increases the chances of future TBI.

A child with undiagnosed TBI who becomes impulsive, unfocused, angry, short term memory loss, is going to slide out of the school system and likely into trouble.

On the other hand there is a whole genre of “fail” videos that folks post for their slapstick qualities, without thinking about the injuries. And it’s usually considered a downer to let reality intrude on these videos.

[BrendaJane]

Normally I just click away from those videos. I find no fun in watching people take falls you just know hurt like the dickens.
But that video was different. it was a jaw-dropper and eye-popper, with so many fails in under a minute, it was unreal. The lol moment (not really) when dad went after the pony (in what seemed to be a closed arena) instead of checking on the offspring.

But ‘we have always done it this way’ reply? I had a reply in my mind, but stuff happened and I did not get on FB, then it was lost in the flood of BS and I did not feel like digging through it to continue a fruitless argument.

But yeah, those things ‘you got your bell rung hahaha’ old-timey things. We do know better. We should do better. There is a fine line between being overprotective and not at all 9actually that line is as wide as a California freeway!) I consider a helmet the bare minimum for a youngster.
And yeah, don’t wrestle the horse down. Injuries could occur, some fatal - for the equine.

[phosics]

Oh man. I am passionately hateful about the “we have always done it this way attitude.” Just because the method is what you consider to be tradition does not make it correct or good or useful in any way. I think it is a pride thing too.

If you want to be dumb enough to put yourself in harms way, then fine, but don’t subject your children, coworkers, equines, etc. to suffer because of your idiocy.

[Night_Flight]

@phosics

If you want to be dumb enough to put yourself in harms way, then fine, but don’t subject your children, coworkers, equines, etc. to suffer because of your idiocy.

Trouble is, they always put children and other innocent creatures in danger.

For some reason, Facebook keeps suggesting videos for me posted by a family that trains horses and ponies. The young boy (I’m not great at guessing ages but definitely under 10) doesn’t wear a helmet and is encouraged to break ponies. He suffered some horrific accident as a result of one these ponies, resulting in a major head injury, including scarring, if I remember correctly.

They put him back on the ponies as soon as he was able. No helmet. Just “this is the way we do it and we don’t believe anyone should be required to wear a helmet if they don’t want to wear one, and God will protect him”.

The poor child is likely going to be affected by head injuries for the rest of his life because a parent thinks that helmets aren’t “cowboy” enough.

[phosics]

Man, that makes me sick. That poor kid.

[sportyspicepony]

Some neighbors of my barn have two fairly young kids who regularly ride around on four wheelers and dirt bikes with no helmets or anything and it freaks me out soooo much. I have seen one of them fall off once, I think she was ok that day but who knows if there was any head trauma. I just googled this and supposedly ONE THIRD of all 300-400 deaths from ATV accidents every year are children under 16

[StormyDay]

I don’t understand the ‘no helmets’ crowd. It’s across disciplines; of course many more people in the western world but I still see 1-2 people a week on Facebook jumping with no helmet on.

The people I’ve asked have said things like ‘I don’t like helmet hair’ ‘it hurts my head’ ‘they look ugly’.

Being comatose also looks ugly and hurts. And sponge baths are hell on your hair.

It’s not just in the horse world either. The amount of people who ride motorcycles with no helmet in shorts astounds me. At least if I fall off my horse without a helmet I have a chance at living through it.

[2DogsFarm]

OP, you know you’re swimming upstream, right?
Can’t Fix Stupid applies to the We’re Country Always Done This crowd.
And our shared horror won’t stop it.
There was a story on the internet that still haunts me:
5yo sat, by parent, on “her” Barrel horse, no headgear of any sort. Horse falls while being led & falls on kid. Who is taken off Life Support shortly after.
What shook me most was the post was from kid’s Mother, asking for prayers, no mention of safety.
A former member of my Driving Club posts pics of 8yo grandkid driving a mini Alone in the cart.
Yes, kid is a good driver for her age.
But in a nanosecond things can go very wrong & photo-taking grandma is in no position to help.
Same grandma posts tons of pics of grandsons - not yet teens - doing motocross.
Sure, kids have helmets, but both have been hospitalized for injuries.
Why motorized vehicles for such young kids?
There exists a Bicycle version of the sport. Potential for injury there too, but the outcome is going to be less dangerous.

Count me in with the DGIs

[4Frogs_aLilypad]

I don’t get the no helmet thing either. I’d rather wear one and not need it than not wear it and need it. No hoof no horse, no head no human.

[BrendaJane]

Up a waterfall, for sure. And I am not a salmon.

I mean, there has to be a sweet compromise between keeping kids safe and not scaring them to death either.

(not sure though if a helmet would have saved the kid when the horse fell on it.)

[Spudsmyguy]

This isn’t a kid but adults on motorcycles. A friend of DH moved to Arizona where, apparently, they don’t have helmet laws. Friend was with a couple and the couple didn’t wear helmets when they went out for a ride and were trying to encourage friend not to wear one either. He declined and wore his. They were riding along with the couple in front when a truck pulled out in front of them. Woman hit the truck and flew over it, dead on impact. Husband hit it a second later and he is majorly messed up. TBI, several broken bones. If they had been wearing helmets, it’s possible they could have made it through. Friend is forever grateful he chose to wear one that day.