Well then anyone who walks or does anything more strenuous should be helmeted. Go!
Every ride, every time. Yep.
Iāve had the most unpleasant experience of waiting for the paramedics to come for my friend with a head injury. A friend who stopped breathing briefly while we were on the phone wth 911. A friend who bled out her ear. And watching the paramedics sauntering in slowly, asking if she has a DNR.
She wasnāt riding; she was on the ground and kicked.
Friend survived. Even rode that horse againā¦ eventually. It was a hard road back and she was never quite the same.
Wear your dang helmet.
7 Likes
Iāll never understand the mentality of I wonāt wear a helmet because, while it prevents X, it doesnāt prevent Y and Z also??? The logic behind that is justā¦ well not logic at all really. Of course helmets are not the be all end all of safety and they arenāt going to stop accidents from happening, but they sure do a good job at reducing the damage of head injuries. And as someone with head injury syndrome, you do NOT want head injuries. Itās like saying you wonāt wear a seat belt because itās not going to prevent someone from rear-ending you (only keep you from possibly going through the windshield and all that). I am an every time, every ride person and I generally donāt ride with people who wonāt wear them. Kids around my horses wear them the whole time they are in any contact with the horses
8 Likes
Iāll never understand the outrage from people to which this rule does not apply. If one does not ride at the FEI level do what you want. Why the outrage over something that doesnāt concern you?
10 Likes
This. And I donāt get the fighting the rule either. Like, itās a helmet, it isnāt going to affect your riding and it can help you stay just a bit safer, as well as providing a good influence for others. Just wear a dang helmet in the competition if you show FEI, there is literally no reason not to and a lot more reasons to.
8 Likes
I usually go without a helmet because I enjoy riding that way a lot more than when Iām wearing a helmet. I assume some people are not bothered by wearing helmets. That is fine. I use them if doing something unusual. But mandatory for reining? Europe can make the rules it wants but it makes me glad the FEI doesnāt control reining in the USA.
It affects everyone in their insurance pool.
3 Likes
Helmet argument asideā¦
Maybe having FEI involved might help reduce the level of reining horses with injuries/excessive wear and tear before they even reach the minimum age to compete in FEI events.
The FEI is far from perfect (enduranceā¦) and I refuse to see vaulting as an equestrian event (itās gymnastics on moving apparatus) but I donāt see how anything the improves safety and (hopefully) extends the working and quality of life for the horses can be a bad thing?
1 Like
I will wonder, do you participate in reining?
I beg to disagree that reining only has horses participating when young and then no more and FEI will make them now suddenly compete longer, because, well, they already are competing longer, always have done so.
Do you show, are you familiar with the Reiner magazine?
There are stories about the youngsters winning big money in Futurities.
There are also stories of horses at other ages doing well, about their horses and riders, have always been right there.
Confirmation bias may let some only focus on the big money on futurities and those stories, not paying attention to all the many others that are also part of reining.
Granted, so much of the publicity is on Futurities, as it is the big money.
If you are familiar with reining, horses at the futurities are scored as the youngsters they are.
They would not do well against older, more experienced and so more consistent horses that make less mistakes, why futurities are limited to youngsters starting.
There are already many, many other classes for other than youngsters.
There is where many go on to participate after their Futurities year.
They participate and and stay sound for years, thru derby and maturity classes, thru all other kinds of classes, as they age the less demanding classes like green as grass beginners, the lower junior ones?
I had horses from futurity prospects that trained for 1 1/2 years to old horses, some that are now in the 20ās, that are still sound and healthy and know of many, many more.
I donāt think there are many other disciplines you have that many horses that are suitable to their discipline long term and stay sound physically and mentally when competing and being properly managed as they do in reining.
Two horses I had are right now 19 and 21 and still competing, one in Select, another in international scholastic classes, at the top level, one won against many younger horses recently.
Are they injuries from competing?
Yes, sadly there are, at any level of training or competing, so are they no matter what else we do.
Even when not doing anything, injuries happen to horses regularly, happen to any and all alive, is part of life.
I would say, maybe consider that the opinion that FEI would make horses lives better than they are now, as the FEI press puts out, well, that is debatable, if you look at the reality out there other than what that FEI propaganda wants us to believe.
My opinion, this debate between reining and the FEI is not about the welfare of horses, that is window dressing, it is about who will run things, about power at the top and other interests than that of the horses, that are mostly mere props in these human games.
Proof of that, look at similar debates over decades over other sports, who gets to make the rules, who has the last word, between those sportās associations and what they have to give up to be part of the FEI to play in their domain, the olympics a salient one.
1 Like
Cite some statistics, please, to support your allegations. Personal experience does not count.
Data shows that horses stay sounder longer when worked at age 2. Hereās my source.
Unfortunately QHs are a very different animal to a TB. In case you didnāt see this bit in the link you provided;
āThoroughbred Onlyā
1 Like
Some time ago TX A+M also had studies showing how much better quarter horses fared when started at two, compared with those a year older.
Bodies with similar characteristics get fit by similar principles.
That tends to apply to all growing bodies, horses and human also.
1 Like
Itās relevant to any animal of the same species, dear. Itās not breed specific.
PS - I have quarter horses and compete.
1 Like
There are a ton of older horses competing in reining - NRHA, AQHA, APHA, etc. FEI has no affect on 99% of those that rein. So to answer your question - no.
1 Like
CONGRATULATIONS 
Worth reading; http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf
1 Like
You know Dr Bennet has backed off what she used to recommend, in light of newer studies?
She was the pioneer on so much we know today, but also went down some theories that were later changed as we learned more.
Is the way science works best.
Just think, growing practicing what you will do the rest of your life helps you learn motor memory and your body grow into those tasks best, compared with someone that, once mature, tries to do the same.
Any animal, including humans that are best at what they do, grow doing just that, is part of growing up and being better at any one task.
1 Like
Sure, thereās research, albeit perhaps research thatās overly concentrated in specific equine pursuits, that suggests that responsibly starting a horse young has benefits for their physical health down the line. But I donāt know how naive one has to be to actually imagine that every person undertaking this task is going to be a responsible steward of their young horseās health.
An appreciation of nuance and a recognition of the recent research might behoove those absolutists who donāt believe in starting horses young. Just as those who believe in starting horses young would benefit from an understanding of where there are gaps in the literature, as well as a reflection on the material conditions of the equine industry that create possibilities for young horses, and older ones, to be irreparably harmed as a result of training.
Well, that also applies to any that starts a horse, at any age.
You have to take the horse in front of you into consideration.
A good trainer can train a horse just fine, at any age.
A bad trainer wonāt train one properly, at any age.
That is a given, of course, not the age one is started to blame for any problems?
Why the vaulting hate out of the blue? Care to give us your opinion on driving, or maybe the Westernaires? How about big eq? @TPO - your opinion on vaulting has nothing to do with the helmet discussion at hand and is pretty negative about something you donāt seem to know terribly well.
Back to the regularly scheduled discussion - honestly, Iām hoping that some uber-cool big name Reiner will proudly wear the helmet (like the dressage GP folks did after CKD) and it will be a symbol of an international level competitor. Then hopefully everyone will want to look like that and it will catch on. Embrace the change, own it, look good, be the hero. Fight it, look like a goat, lol.
2 Likes
Setting aside for a moment that issue in assuming that a āgood trainerā must by definition be equally good at all aspects of producing a horse, no I donāt hold that as universally true. āGoodā and ābadā arenāt objective terms. āGoodā and ābadā are very much culturally defined. And the number of cultures and traditions that surround the young horse in particular are practically innumerable. Everyone who works with a young horse is informed by the traditions of the equine culture they were steeped in. That subjectivity, no matter if the trainer is considered āgoodā or ābad,ā creates pathways through which a horse can be objectively harmed.
Is this unique to young horses? No. Is it more strongly expressed with regards to young horses? From my observations, yes. What does this mean for you? Get a little meta about why you do what you do from time to time, and get a little meta about why other people do what they do. Itās fun to see how something we hold as objectively sacrosanct could have actually been the result of a generations-long tradition. And itās fun to learn how beliefs we once held may not actually be backed up by the objectivity we assumed was there in the first place.
