Hairnets and head health

[longtimelurker]

A well-respected trainer posted this on Facebook. Thoughts? Anyone planning on ditching their hairnets?

ETA: I have no dog in this fight! I’m not showing right now, but typically school with my hair up because…I’m a creature of habit. Just wondering what ya’ll think.

A thought…
So many times I read people’s complaints about lack of formality in the show ring. I read complaints about polo shirts and off-color breeches, neither of which affect a rider’s safety. The most common complaint I read is about the ponytail, or braid, outside of the helmet, which does in fact significantly affect rider safety. With my history of concussions and the uphill battle to maintain and improve my safety on a daily basis, I struggle with the concept that people so avidly disagree with the rider’s hair being out of the helmet. Check out the female riders on your friends list…a good looking bunch of woman with really nice hair. Hair, that when stuffed into a helmet that needs to be a size too big to accommodate it, dramatically decrease the effectiveness and safety of a helmet.
I took my old Hunter helmet that accommodated my hair with me to my routine appointment at Jefferson Concussion last week. I put my hair up in a net, over the ears, flipped it up on top of my head, and put my helmet over it. My neurologist almost lost her cookies. Helmets should fit the head without the hair. Period.
Of course, I could argue this point for days and not win with regard to the hunter ring, but it won’t stop me from trying. I have recently purchased two new helmets, one for the Jumper ring that fits great with a ponytail out and, unfortunately, one for the Hunter ring that fits as tight as possible with my hair up. At what point with the daily rants about ponytails end? At what point does rider safety come first? At what point will we begin to acknowledge that this is a sport, and that respect for it does not always mean that we follow the formalities of the past, but that we respect the risk we take each day?

[yellowbritches]

I agree, and when I had long hair, I had the art of taming it without stuffing it into my helmets down to a science. I actually hate flopping pony tails and braids, too, but there IS a middle ground.

Or, you can just chop it all off, like I did, and never have to worry about a hairnet or a floppy pony tail ever again!

[Bogie]

I think that helmets fit better when they fit your head, not your hair.

However, since many people still complain about the appearance of newer helmets (bulkier), I think it will be a long time (like when hell freezes over) before people give up their hunter hair.

I think the goal should first be to support the use of helmets. Let’s get as many people as possible wearing them. Then let’s talk about fit (I see many people with helmets that swim on their heads). Then let’s address the hair net.

[supershorty628]

I agree with Bogie about what the goals should be.

Having said that, I will always think that a loose ponytail, when showing, is sloppy and that if the hair is not up in the helmet, it should be in a neat braid.

ETA: I always have my hair up.

[kcmel]

I’m not a hunter, but I put my hair in a low bun, then put the hairnet over that and put another elastic band around the bun outside the hairnet. Very neat.

However, I am soon going to do as Yellowbritches suggested and cut it all off.

[yellowbritches]

[QUOTE=kcmel;8626286]

However, I am soon going to do as Yellowbritches suggested and cut it all off.[/QUOTE]
The most liberating moment of the big chop, was giving all my 100s of hairnets away. I have very thick hair, and I typically just bought them whenever I was in a tack shop. I gave them all to my blonde boarders!

[HLMom]

I don’t know about the science of it, but I can’t resist pointing out that hunter hair only looks nice to people indoctrinated in the culture… to outsiders, the whole thing is pretty weird, especially with the fashion of letting a bit of the hairnet show. Watching my daughter do the hairnet-and-helmet routine, my husband asked, “What’s with the waitress hair?”

Personally, I’d love to see the style change to a low bun or neat braid. One advantage is that this style would work under the helmet, and still look nice throughout the day when the helmet is off.

[Mistysmom]

Putting hair up in the helmet is a long standing tradition in hunters and is absolutely encouraged by trainers. There is no “rule” that says hair must be tucked up inside the helmet and competitors will not be marked down by the judge for not wearing their hair up. The only requirement while showing is that hair be neat and tidy. A low bun, like they wear in dressage, is absolutely allowed. Ultimately, people should do what they feel comfortable with and how one wears their hair (as long as it is neat and tidy of course) does not need to be an issue with the trainer. There are far more important things for he trainer to be concerned with.

[doublesstable]

It makes sense the helmet without the hair in it (especially if it’s thick) would be a better fit.

I have seen many riders use the hair nets and have their long hair still in a braid out the back of the helmet.

I am a hunter-hair-wearer for as long as I can remember. I have thin hair so it hasn’t made a feeling difference for me other than the net keeps the fly-away hairs out of my face. Especially where the side-burn area is. That’s why I like doing the hunter-hair. Having that roll of hair from my part, over my ears and to the back keeps the side-burn area from getting straggly and flying around.

When my hair was longer the long part I would pull up to the top of the helmet where there is room regardless.

I have ridden and shown Dressage years ago and did the bun in the back. It actually was bothersome to me. I guess it’s all in what you are used to.

[equisusan]

Well finally my fine, limp hair is an asset! :lol: My helmet would fit the same with or without my scrawny hair up in it. I knew I was born to be a hunter princess. Carry on.

[RileysMom]

Most of the newer (and by newer I mean what we have now compared to 15 years ago) have the thick harness that goes all the way across the back. So I use a hairnet but stick the bulk of my (shoulder-length) hair in a twisted knot in that gets tucked into that external harness piece so it’s more at the base of my skull/neck and doesn’t affect helmet fit nearly as much as if it was in the shell. I bought my helmet to fit my head (wasn’t showing at the time) and this way it still does. Of course this probably doesn’t work with long or thick hair but it works for me.

[Hiddenspot]

[QUOTE=RileysMom;8626425]
Most of the newer (and by newer I mean what we have now compared to 15 years ago) have the thick harness that goes all the way across the back. So I use a hairnet but stick the bulk of my (shoulder-length) hair in a twisted knot in that gets tucked into that external harness piece so it’s more at the base of my skull/neck and doesn’t affect helmet fit nearly as much as if it was in the shell. I bought my helmet to fit my head (wasn’t showing at the time) and this way it still does. Of course this probably doesn’t work with long or thick hair but it works for me.[/QUOTE]

This is exactly what I do. I have a very low and tight bun that I shove under the soft part of the helmet at the back. My trainer is very traditional and she hasn’t noticed… She would say so if she did. I still do the funky ear cover up etc. I am over having the insane headache from stuffing it all up.

[snowrider]

[QUOTE=Mistysmom;8626363]
Putting hair up in the helmet is a long standing tradition in hunters and is absolutely encouraged by trainers. There is no “rule” that says hair must be tucked up inside the helmet and competitors will not be marked down by the judge for not wearing their hair up. The only requirement while showing is that hair be neat and tidy. A low bun, like they wear in dressage, is absolutely allowed. Ultimately, people should do what they feel comfortable with and how one wears their hair (as long as it is neat and tidy of course) does not need to be an issue with the trainer. There are far more important things for he trainer to be concerned with.[/QUOTE]

I’ve always thought it made people look like one of the dowdier characters in a Jane Austen adaptation. Perhaps the paid “companion” friend or the governess. I can’t fit my hair into any helmet on this earth so I’ve always worn it in a bun, generally braided and rolled or folded up. I don’t think it looks that much different from the judges stand

[Madeline]

@longtimelurker;8626258

…
I took my old Hunter helmet that accommodated my hair with me to my routine appointment at Jefferson Concussion last week. I put my hair up in a net, over the ears, flipped it up on top of my head, and put my helmet over it. My neurologist almost lost her cookies. Helmets should fit the head without the hair. Period.

All it would take to make correctly fitted helmets the norm would be for half a dozen or so uber BNT’s ( Morris, Clark, Dignelli, Madden, Torano, KAppler, etc.) to have a session with this neurologist. Complete with anatomic drawings, slides and video. A few hours of serious education. Then for those trainers to make a public statement that their students will not be wearing oversized helmets full of hair. And that they would not penalize competitors with hair neatly contained outside their helmets and would really appreciate other judges educating themselves about head injuries and helmet fit, and similarly not penalizing non-hunter-hair.

COTH would publicize this, USEF would pull together seminars for trainers, judges, parents and riders at different high profile horse shows. If the impetus for change came from that top group of very influential trainers, and the judges listened to them, the problem would be a non-problem in a few months.

[Dewey]

Yup to Madeline. ^ A start would be an article in CoTH that people could start sending round via link to their friends and trainers.

I have short hair, so this doesn’t affect me, but it affects most of my riding friends.

[2DogsFarm]

Wayback when d![](nosaurs roamed the Earth & I showed Hunters with longer-than-shoulder-length hair, a friend would sew in a French braid for me, doubling the length that fell below the helmet’s neckline & sewing that in too,
Think: spiral braid on a horse’s tail.
Like this:

[IMG]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ni4ZBVNq2CM/T3JMvpl7GeI/AAAAAAAAALk/3Jyj83izZ9U/s1600/DEMO_Tail_braid.jpg)

Helmet fit snugly, but not headache-inducing.
Lasted all weekend & I shampooed with braid still in place.

[vxf111]

Maybe the only time in life that having very very VERY thin hair is an advantage

[MontysGal]

As someone who has gotten a concussion while riding with a correctly fitted helmet with hair out (was just schooling around), I am a big fan of fit over fashion, and I do show the hunters.

This is exactly what I do. No one has ever commented:

[QUOTE=kcmel;8626286]
I’m not a hunter, but I put my hair in a low bun, then put the hairnet over that and put another elastic band around the bun outside the hairnet. Very neat.[/QUOTE]

[saje]

I’m an eventer with thick, waist length hair, and I despise a flopping braid or ponytail. I also can’t put my hair under my helmet, nor would I want to because helmet fit trumps appearance every time. But Dressage & Stadium require a tidy turnout, so I’ve been through all sorts of variations.

What I do now is put my hair in two braids (Little House On The Prairie or Pippi Longstocking style), then pull them behind my head and weave them through each other so that they sit tight and snug under the curve of my skull. Two hairnets over that, well-fitting helmet over it all, and done. Nice and tidy and stays put through warmup and test. And my helmet fits the way it should.

[cyberbay]

It’s been around for a long time, this-hair-tucked-up-in-the- helmet-makes-the-helmet-fit-not-so-safe.

But, wasn’t sure here. Is the OP saying that hairnets even when used with short hair make helmets fit badly as well, or just long hair draped over the top of the head makes helmets fit badly? I sure hope not, as the hairnet really does keep the annoying wisps out of the way.

I did have to laugh, seeing the post from HLMom about the. uh, attractiveness of hunter hair. This would be a true statement…