Helmet struggles

[CQequestrian]

I recently got a Charles Owen helmet for showing because my instructor recommended that I not show in a dial-back helmet. I have to really shove it down to get it on my head, and it gives me headaches after 5 seconds of wearing, but at the tack store the employees said it looked like a great fit. I wore it for about 30 seconds there and my head was sore for the next hour.

I ride hunter jumper so I have to get it all in my helmet, and I have really long hair that I am very attached to. People I have talked to think it might be because my hair is preventing a good fit, but I just can’t cut it. My next show is less than a month away and it might be too late to try to get a new one now, plus I don’t have the money for a new one and I probably can’t return mine since I took the tags off.

Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to help with this? I would really appreciate some advice.

[CQequestrian]

Oh and… this is also kinda gonna be my first show… yikes!!

[Willesdon]

Wear the dial helmet that fits and you are happy to wear. There are no rules against them, so long as the helmet meets current safety standards. It is the Fashion Police who object to them.

Wear the CO with your hair outside the helmet, which is how they are designed to fit. Braid your hair and put it down your collar to look tidy.

[OnDeck]

Your helmet sounds too tight. Get a bigger size.

[adultammylife]

I had a similar experience with a CO helmet. I have a very large, round head and also have very thick hair. At the time my hair was very long and I went to a tack store to get fitted for a new helmet. They were a fairly well known store but only carried a couple of brands - CO being one of them. I tried the helmet on and it was a little snug in the store but they said the CO helmets are supposed to fit snug and then they “settle” as you wear them.

Fast forward to my first horse show with the helmet and I wore it for about 2 hours. It gave me an incredibly headache and I actually had to take it off because it made me so nauseous. Ended up getting a different helmet at a different tack store. The other store also carried CO and I brought the one I had purchased in with me. The other store said they thought the one I was fitted for was actually a size too small.

This long story to say - if the helmet feels too small in the store, or makes your head sore, listen to your body!

[TheJenners]

Sounds too small overall, or the wrong shape. I have an oval head so the CO GR8 fits perfect, a “regular” helmet I wore before made my forehead hurt because it was round.

[ThreeWishes]

Exactly. Head shape differs. Certain helmets favor oval vs round. And it’s less about the size than it is about the shape of your head.

[LCDR]

There are “long oval” helmets. I have found that is best for me. There was a thread about long oval helmets a year ago, Try one on and see if it fits you better than the rounder styles.

Best helmet for long oval?

I know this was posted before, but I’m having no luck w/ the search function this morning. Best fitting helmet for my extremely long oval noggin? Dial fit is my most favorite, but neither Uvex nor Tipperary are fitting.

[CQequestrian]

Thanks but my trainer said that I would probably drop in the ribbons if I did, and as it is my first show I think I will try to listen to my instructor’s advice

[CQequestrian]

It hurts all around my head and it feels great when my hair’s not in it though… so I don’t know if it would make any difference if I chose a different shape.

[CQequestrian]

Thank you!! That does help, but I don’t think I will be able to get another one before my show, partly because the tack store I went to is 45 minutes away and the one that is next closest is a few hours… but I’m also only in 2 classes so hopefully I will be able to handle it. Thanks!

[mvp]

@CQequestrian

Thanks but my trainer said that I would probably drop in the ribbons if I did, and as it is my first show I think I will try to listen to my instructor’s advice

Wait a sec.

Just how high-end a show is this?

I don’t think what your trainer told you about judges is at all true.

[ThreeWishes]

Trust me. Your helmet has zero to do with your placing. If it’s not hot pink fits well and protects your brain it’s YOUR ride and horse that matter.

[Willesdon]

@ThreeWishes

Trust me. Your helmet has zero to do with your placing. If it’s not hot pink fits well and protects your brain it’s YOUR ride and horse that matter.

100% agree

[CQequestrian]

I don’t know it’s an IEA show my trainer said it needs to be a non dial back and my hair has to be in it, so I need to figure out a way to make it work. And I don’t think my trainer would tell me to get an expensive helmet if I didn’t actually need one. Plus my dial back is several years old, really dirty, and the front piece thingy is breaking off. I appreciate you all trying to help, but I am just looking for advice on how to make my current helmet work for one or two shows before I can get to a tack shop or how to get my hair in it so that it doesn’t hurt.

[LCDR]

Well if you’re willing to increase your risk, the styrofoam-like lining inside most helmets is compressible, but if you do it, it is not reversible. Use a hammer inside the helmet to “customize” it. At least it will still be safer than an old style hunt cap that many of us used while loudly condemning the loss of freedom when harnesses were introduced.

[vxf111]

Is your trainer a neurologist? Does she work for the ASTM? If the answer is no, I would not rely on her opinion when it comes to the safety of your brain. Don’t wear a helmet that doesn’t fit you properly, even if it’s fashionable. Get one that fits and is fashionable if fashion matters to you.

[vxf111]

Jesus do NOT “customize” your helmet with a hammer. Who knows what this will do to the structural integrity and certainly it will void any warranty. Not to mention likely ruin any hope it will fit anyone or be returnable. A helmet is a SAFETY DEVICE. You should no more take to it with a hammer than you should cut and resew the seatbelt in your car. Jesus almighty! That is a dangerous suggestion!!!

@LCDR

Well if you’re willing to increase your risk, the styrofoam-like lining inside most helmets is compressible, but if you do it, it is not reversible. Use a hammer inside the helmet to “customize” it. At least it will still be safer than an old style hunt cap that many of us used while loudly condemning the loss of freedom when harnesses were introduced.

[LCDR]

Of course it can be dangerous, and as I said it is irreversible… However I have actually done this - not to the extent of willy-nilly banging up a perfectly good helmet, but with the round end of a ball-peen hammer to clear a localized spot where I needed pressure relief. And now you can really have at me; I did it because of localized swelling and sutures after a fall where the bill of my helmet detached from the cap and sliced into my forehead, And I did it to a new helmet so that I’d be able to ride out in the next hunt without the helmet irritating the stitched wound.

Some people are idiots and take risks. We fox hunters are way higher up the idiot ladder than most in the equestrian world. But everyone has their own benefit versus risk internal calculator. If the OP’s calculator tells her that wearing a risky yet more comfortable helmet is offset by the possible benefit of placing higher in a horse show, that is her choice.

[Jo]

@CQequestrian

I ride hunter jumper so I have to get it all in my helmet, and I have really long hair that I am very attached to. People I have talked to think it might be because my hair is preventing a good fit, but I just can’t cut it.

If this is the case, do a long braid and put it down the back of your show coat.