December 2000, p. 112. I will buy an approved helmet for showing.
I wish I could offer you a suggestion, Patti. I cannot hope to understand why your husband does not choose to wear a helmet after having lived through your experience. It is clear that you don’t understand his decision either.
I suppose your options at this point are limited. You could refuse to ride with him but riding alone probably would expose him to even greater danger - and would rob you both of enjoyable time together.
You already are teaching by example and that isn’t working. Crying clearly doesn’t help. All I can suggest is that you make an appointment with your husband and really talk about his reticence. It sounds as if the usual reasons people offer for not wearing a helmet don’t apply to him. Open communication about the issue is all I can really suggest.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Flash44:
Life is cruel and tricky enough without taking simple precautions like wearing a well fitting approved helmet when you ride.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well said Flash44.
Did anyone else at WIHS see Aaron Vale’s crash in the Puissance final where his unapproved, unstrapped hat popped off his head and rolled 6 feet through the dirt? While on the ground he was very nearly kicked in the head by the horse, and the horse, in avoiding him, nearly tripped on the hat. Scary.
The first time I consistently wore an approved was when I started working for a Girl Scout camp in Georgia. They all teased me for wearing my “bad” hat outside of camp. I have to admit my Circuit still feels protective to me, although logically I know it is not nearly as effective as an approved. Galloping the trails at camp made me glad to be wearing an approved. I vowed to wear an approved while trail riding anytime.
This year I had a baby. After reading all the threads here and thinking of the security I felt while wearing an approved at camp, I vowed never to get on a horse without an approved. I love my little Seamus so much I can’t imagine risking my health and life for the sake of vanity and habit. I do not want him to feed my strained peas for 50 more years, as I feed him now. I will never allow him on a horse without an approved.
It is not riding a course of fences in the show ring or working out the shoulder in that I worry about, it’s the fluke – dropping the reins while taking off gloves, turning around to talk someone behind you, leaning down to hug your horse, etc. That’s what I fear.
By the way, I encourage the parents of all my student who are shorter than the horse’s elbow to make their children wear helmets while working around the horses. I’ve seen more injuries occur on the ground than from falling off. Little kids are right at kicking hoof level. I think about the time my horse cow kicked at a fly and caught in the back of thigh. That would’ve been a six year old’s head …
I am glad to hear you are doing fine after 5 years, Coreene. My bad spill was about 7 years ago. I had NO helmet on. I am lucky to be alive. Glad only my confidence was harmed in that one.
I wear approved and only approved now. I feel naked without it. 
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ThinkBigEQ:
[B]This lady was Chinese(it was in Asia) and she actually drove very well, compared to some of my neighbors! 
! I’m not being predjudice, but some of the Chinese drivers on the roads were well…lets just say they weren’t the most skilled drivers I’ve ever seen. 
K
[This message has been edited by ThinkBigEQ (edited 11-29-2000).][/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Where I come from, this is called “DWA;” Driving While Asian.
Actually, I think driving skill has nothing to do with ethnicity. Many of my Asian neighbors grew up in Vietnam, Korea, etc. and never learned to drive (or even rode in a car) until they arrived in the States as adults. I reckon that feeling natural behind the wheel only comes with experience -sort of like riding a horse.
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by nyc_rider:
Someone told me it is even safer than other approved helmets.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
See, that’s how rumours get started! 
I always have, and always will, wear an approved helmet because accidents are just that- accidents. One girl at a nearby barn was schooling a 4 year old horse when it spooked and bolted across the arena. The horse started to jump the arena fence, then refused, the girl fell off, got her foot stuck in the stirrup, landed on the OTHER side of the fence. Then the horse spun around, the girl was dragged back INTO the arena, and across it until finally the horse stopped and she managed to free her foot. Thanks to the fact that she was wearing an approved helmet- which was broken in 4 places- she suffered no head injuries, only scrapes and bruises! They brought he helmet to the doctor, who said it more than likely saved the girl’s life. Just another reason to always wear approved helmets(with buckled harnesses)!
largeponylover: My brother is an airline pilot who feels the need to drive fast sport cars to ‘simulate’ the feel of the jet fighters he used to fly. He does this w/o a seat belt on because, ‘Hey, at the speed I’m driving, I’m gonna die anyway’ WHAT A STUPID REASON to deprive my nieces & nephew of their father. Is he still alive? Well, no one’s called me today to say differently, but the point is he has increased his chances of dying by 1000% each time he gets in a car! He’s my big brother, but he is SO ARROGANTLY STUPID in his reasoning. Does he know how to handle his sports car? Yes. Are his reflexes better than yours or mine? Absolutely. Does this in any way prevent him from falling victim to another driver’s mistaken lane change? Of course not.
Perhaps your parents wear lucky socks, and believe that will protect them? If your parents and older people who grew up w/o helmets “knew enough to be safe” THEY’D WEAR THEIR HELMETS AS AN EXAMPLE TO YOUNGER PEOPLE WHO CAN’T GROW UP WITHOUT THEM.
Climbing off my soapbox, and leaving now.
[This message has been edited by Weatherford (edited 11-26-2000).]
[This message has been edited by Kryswyn (edited 11-26-2000).]
[This message has been edited by Kryswyn (edited 11-26-2000).]
I am just curious if there is a higher percentage of head injuries in Western riders. They don’t seem to wear helmets very often. They don’t jump but they do seem to do a lot of racing around heavy objects. Just curious!
largeponylover
Don’t kid yourself that your parents and all their contemporaries don’t wear helmets because they used to be uncomfortable and not as safe and because “they HAVE GROWN UP WITHOUT THE HELMET”. Those folks have just plain chosen not to wear them. And always have. As someone who is well over 35 I know that there have been more and less safe hats or “helmets” for brain protection since at least the mid 70’s. At that time I showed on the A circuit in the junior hunters with a hard hat with a harness (and actually got ribbons!!). In the late 70’s I got my first caliente (the old fashioned precursors to the helmets people wear today) - and believe me, it was more comfortable than any approved helmet I’ve had since (until I got the new lexington tracstar).
It is a choice - one that your parents, professional riders of all ilks, amateurs and kids can make (thank goodness in NY at least kids can save themselves from themselves).
Anyone can make that choice on whatever basis they want to - but don’t pretend it’s because they haven’t been around.
Chandra- my youngest daughter wears her Lexington when barrel racing, as do a few other junior riders, on her local western circut and 4-H shows. Racing classes lend themselves to colorful outfits so she went with a purple helmet to match her horses purple equipment. She felt VERY, VERY uncomfortble at first about not “fitting in” with the other western riders but after watching the video “Every Ride, Every Time” she saw for herself how much harder it might be to “fit in” using a wheelchair.
In fact, during the summer I require that she wears her helmet when cleaning her mares hooves and working on her legs, you know how quick a horses leg can be when they go after a fly. I set an example by doing the same 
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jumphigh83:
Large pony lover…there IS NO excuse for risking YOUR future by not doing EVERYTHING possible to be safe around and on horses. Just because they “got away” with it until now, doesn’t mean they will “get away with it” forever. They are setting a very bad example for not just you but all the customers that ride with them. I hope they never get hurt. Head injuries are not pretty. You could end up in a nursing home til you die in a vegetative state. It isn’t worth the risk. Our sport is dangerous enough without doing foolish things to make it even riskier. ASK them to put on a helmet for YOU. They probably will.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The excuse is that they are adults that are allowed to make their own decisions. I fully believe that they know its not as safe as other options but that is their choice to take that risk, besides Large pony lover never said she rode without a helmet. Adults are adults and should be allowed to make their own decisions . . . juniors should wear approved helmets. However when they reach “maturity” know about all the consequences and safety issues arent they allowed to take their lives into their own hands??
I have had a head injury, nothing to do with horses and while I know horses are unpredictable . . so is everything else in life. . . cars, other people, guns etc etc. I prefer to live my life out how I choose with the choices that I make so at least when I die i will have been happy no matter how short my life was.
Flame away
ok, just for fun, I’m going to play devil’s advocate here, (BTW I always ride in an approved helmet, I wear a troxel schooling helmet that’s approved, have thrown away my old caliente and am shopping for a new approved eventing helmet for when I start to event my baby next year):
A lot of accidents that I have read about in this thread and in the PH article really have to do with either not wearing a helmet at all OR wearing an unapproved helmet without a harness properly fastened or no harness at all. Curious to hear if any accidents/injuries occurred out there with an unapproved helmet properly fastened that did not come off when falling?
Also, I would think that even an approved won’t help as much if the harness is dangling or off when you fall.
[This message has been edited by Meshach (edited 11-29-2000).]
LOL Sandy M!!! Someone I knew always drove to the barn, and from the barn with her helmet on. She was a BOLD driver, but a very timid rider. But I guess she was more worried about her driving skills than her riding skills. This lady was Chinese(it was in Asia) and she actually drove very well, compared to some of my neighbors! ! I’m not being predjudice, but some of the Chinese drivers on the roads were well…lets just say they weren’t the most skilled drivers I’ve ever seen…I just hope it’s not “contagious” otherwise I might be more than dangerous when I get my license!
K
[This message has been edited by ThinkBigEQ (edited 11-29-2000).]
I don’t know if you’re talking about the same story I’m thinking of, which I believe was in Dressage Today, but it’s basically the same. She wasn’t wearing an approved helmet, she fell off and got seriously hurt. I have NEVER ridden bare-headed, and my helmet is approved and strapped on (there have been a few times when I initially felt like I was being choked LOL). There was, however, ONE time that I was on a horse’s back and I was not wearing a helmet. It’s a little scary to think about, especially since I was on bareback, on a retired Thoroughbred racehorse mare! Yikes. But thank goodness she was so sweet and calm, and that short period of time on her back was totally “uneventful.” Just the best time of my life up to that point!
I get so annoyed when I see people riding without helmets or with helmets that aren’t strapped on. (I can’t tell from a distance if a helmet is approved, but even if you have a Troxel like I do, if you cut the straps off it probably won’t help you much in the case of a fall!) Thank goodness for riders like Carol Lavell (sorry, can’t think of any jumper riders that strap their helmets on) that wear helmets when schooling – but unfortunately for her, she couldn’t wear a helmet when she competed. It’s an FEI rule that international-level dressage riders must wear top hats… grrrr. But jumper riders have NO excuse. There’s no rule that you can’t have your helmet strapped on. I remember seeing a photo of this one Grand Prix show-jumping rider that was falling off, while his helmet was flying through the air. In the case of another Grand Prix rider, his horse spooked and crashed into a bush, and that rider is VERY lucky that he has such good balance! His helmet flew off. Had he fallen, his skull would have broken his fall. Not a very good idea. (This same id-- err, rider, wears a baseball cap when schooling at home. At least he wore a helmet when schooling his horse over fences at the Olympics, but I don’t think his helmet was strapped on there.)
Whew, sorry I rambled. I just can’t imagine why anyone would even consider wearing an unapproved helmet, or worse, no helmet at all, when riding a horse.
Oh my gosh, AAJumper, that’s awful!! I’m glad everyone’s sharing stories like these, though, because it’s hearing stories like these that can make people change their minds.
I’m glad you’ve started a “Troxel trend”! I swear by my Troxel, and I love it for all the same reasons. Not only that, but I do think it’s pretty smart-looking when the cover is off! When I have the velvet or the satin cover on it, though, I do get that “mushroom-head” appearance. But I don’t care! If I’m wearing my dress boots (I love Ariats, but MY GOD, I’m surprised by ankles haven’t bled yet!! They’re very new, so…), it doesn’t look all that bad. And like I said, even if it did look awful, WHO CARES?! It can save you from smashing your brain, losing your memory, having brain surgery, and never riding again (oh, the horror!!!)! Better yet, it can save YOUR LIFE…
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Flash44:
[B] See, that’s how rumours get started!
[/B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Flash- what do you mean? From what I understand, it is safer than other approveds. Hard to argue with the safety standards.
Can you enlighten me about the differences in the American safety standard and the British safety standard? I seem to remember a few years ago hearing or reading that American helmets at that time would not pass British standards, partly due to the vents in the American helmets. It seems that the Briish standard would not allow the helmet to be penetrated anywhere in its shell, which I suppose theoretically meant that the cooling vents in the American schooling helmets could be penetrated. Have you heared anything further on this by any chance? (I am referring to British safty standards, not European in general, in case I am confusing.) Thanks.
Oh, and just to add, that is a frightening story of the rider thrown and dragged over and through the arena fence! I do hope she recovered after such an alarming incident!
[This message has been edited by JumpJockey (edited 11-23-2000).]
Large pony lover…there IS NO excuse for risking YOUR future by not doing EVERYTHING possible to be safe around and on horses. Just because they “got away” with it until now, doesn’t mean they will “get away with it” forever. They are setting a very bad example for not just you but all the customers that ride with them. I hope they never get hurt. Head injuries are not pretty. You could end up in a nursing home til you die in a vegetative state. It isn’t worth the risk. Our sport is dangerous enough without doing foolish things to make it even riskier. ASK them to put on a helmet for YOU. They probably will.
