Helmetless WEG Riders

[katarine]

tempests in tea pots.

I started wearing a helmet off and on when I saw my friend Tricia wearing one. She found the Tipperary worked for her, and I tried it- it fit so much better than the Troxel I’d tried and failed to make myself wear. She’s a trail rider.

I really got into wearing one when I started dressage lessons, and my instructor required them of me. Silly, I know, since I required them of MY students, but not of myself. So that was another one on one influence. Now, I wear them every ride. Oops, mostly every ride. When I do slip I feel pretty nekked without it.

My point is I don’t look at the big boys and girls and run out to buy and use what they buy and use. I believe real and lasting influence more often happens a whole lot closer to home. It’s the people you surround yourself with, in real time, that influence whether you start doing x, y or z.

Nancy Reagan could tell me to just say no, all day long. You didn’t see me listenin. Just sayin

[Stormgsd]

Horse racing requires helmets and I don’t think anybody is at all upset about that. I have never heard of a jockey insisting that it is their right to not wear a helmet:eek:

[Gry2Yng]

You all do realize this is a WORLD event. Most of the world does not have the American obsession with helmets. In fact, few other horse sports have the obsession that the american english disciplines have. Get over it. If the reiners want to have fun let them. There was a day when we many of us rode bareback in shorts and tennis shoes and halters and lead ropes and galloped mach 1 around the back 40. It was called FUN!

[HorseBabble]

[QUOTE=Gry2Yng;5126412]
You all do realize this is a WORLD event. [/QUOTE]

Yep. And I think we are probably behind the rest in this regard.

[ltmac]

[QUOTE=ddashaq;5118932]
Thank you. I am entirely with you, dismissive or not.[/QUOTE]

+1.

[yventer]

Instead of a “negative” approach (trying to make the helmetless riders wear them), how about a “positive” approach, spotlighting the riders who wear helmets, who are going against the “norm”? If you’re trying to reach younger riders, going against the norm is often attractive.

Just a thought.

Yvonne

[mbm]

[QUOTE=HorseBabble;5126492]
Yep. And I think we are probably behind the rest in this regard.[/QUOTE]

i find it totally interesting that as i pursue Connemara pony pics from all over the world - in europe the in hand classes maybe half of the folks are wearing helmets!

so i am not sure that we are behind or in front of the times…

[Madeline]

@Gry2Yng;5126412

You all do realize this is a WORLD event. Most of the world does not have the American obsession with helmets. In fact, few other horse sports have the obsession that the american english disciplines have.!

Few other nations have American lawyers…

[Kementari]

I studied in Ireland several years ago and rode extensively while there, and none of the (Irish) people I rode with would ever have considered riding without a helmet. Of course, I rode with eventers, which probably made a difference.

I suspect Europe is just like the US - there are certain parts of the population and certain disciplines where everyone wears a helmet, others where it’s hit-or-miss, and others where most people don’t.

The idea of protecting your (irreplaceable) head doesn’t need to devolve into a US vs Europe fight, anyway. I don’t care where you are from; if you get on a horse without a helmet, you are putting yourself at the same risk as anyone else who does so.

[Gry2Yng]

[QUOTE=Madeline;5127005]
Few other nations have American lawyers…[/QUOTE]

No doubt.

[Gry2Yng]

[QUOTE=Kementari;5127031]
I don’t care where you are from; if you get on a horse without a helmet, you are putting yourself at the same risk as anyone else who does so.[/QUOTE]

Well of course this is true. My point was that other cultures have a different attitude toward legislation of safety, not that their heads are less at risk.

[Eclectic_Horseman]

@Gry2Yng;5128462

Well of course this is true. My point was that other cultures have a different attitude toward legislation of safety, not that their heads are less at risk.

And we are hypocritical within our own American culture. According to the Traumatic Brain Injury prevention activists, seatbelts and airbags are woefully inadequate to protect a passenger in a car from head injuries. A three point restraint belt (that buckles between the knees) is really what is necessary. So why aren’t they required? (1) car manufacturer lobbyists and (2) public opposition.

And BTW, I am 4’ 11". Why can’t I get anyone to turn my airbag off when it is a proven fact that it could kill me in an accident?

Things are not so clear cut as people who want to legislate other people’s behavior would like to believe that they are. We all want a simpler, safer world. :sigh:

[akrogirl]

[QUOTE=Gry2Yng;5126412]
You all do realize this is a WORLD event. Most of the world does not have the American obsession with helmets.[/QUOTE]

I grew up and learned to ride in England. None of the places I rode at ever allowed anyone on a horse without a helmet, and that is going back over 40 years!

[filly78]

It really bothers me seeing pro-riders at WEG, DAD, etc riding without helmets. I personally think if they all started wearing helmets every time, then a lot of the younger riders that look up to them would follow suit. I’m not going to freak out about it like some people do, I just think of it this way - if they want to ride without a helmet and be an idiot, so be it.

[Go_Fish]

[QUOTE=Gry2Yng;5126412]
Most of the world does not have the American obsession with helmets. [/QUOTE]

“Obsession?”

Since when is safety an “obsession?”

I guess child car seats, seat belts, motorcycle helmets, all the stuff that goes in your house and plugs into something, fire suppression systems, the features on your car like safety glass, etc. are “obsessions.”

Go ahead and ride without your helmet. As one poster mentioned on some other helmet thread…“it’s natural selection at work.”

[SLW]

If you want to effect a change, follow the money, it talks.

Contact the sponsors of the riders who do wear helmets whenever mounted and tell them you appreciate that they support that person. Likewise, look at the sponsors of the riders who ride helmetless, contact the vendors with your concerns and don’t buy those products/vendors until the change your looking for happens.

[Eclectic_Horseman]

@Go Fish;5129471

“Obsession?”

It’s obsession when you are watching the best riders in the world on the most amazing horses in the world putting in record breaking rides, and the first thing you say is…

“Gasp, he’s not wearing a helmet! :eek:”

:lol:

[n2dressage]

[QUOTE=Eclectic Horseman;5129586]
It’s obsession when you are watching the best riders in the world on the most amazing horses in the world putting in record breaking rides, and the first thing you say is…

“Gasp, he’s not wearing a helmet! :eek:”

:lol:[/QUOTE]

:lol::yes::lol::yes:

[Gry2Yng]

[QUOTE=akrogirl;5129345]
I grew up and learned to ride in England. None of the places I rode at ever allowed anyone on a horse without a helmet, and that is going back over 40 years![/QUOTE]

GB+US does not = World. (FWIW, those helmets from 40 years ago were more likely to break your nose than protect your head, they were proper attire.) Besides, I am not talking about wearing helmets, I am talking about obsessing over people who don’t wear helmets. I think there is a difference between saying “I wear I helmet because I want to protect my head.” and “I want to protect my head and I want everyone else to protect their head too and we should publicly embarrass them if they don’t protect their head.”

[Peggy]

Steffen and Ashley both wore helmets tonight during the tun-thru for the freestyle tonite. Very cool, BTW, to see those horses go up close and personal.