How to get western riders to wear helmets?

[lilitiger2]

[QUOTE=Trakehner;7812093]
As long as they’re adults, I don’t worry about it. My wife came off her horse, brain injury, surgeries and she almost died. She didn’t want to wear a helmet. Her surgeon said in her case I probably didn’t make a whole lot of difference…but it could have. Who knows…but I know I figure she used up all her luck and mine too! So I always wear a helmet now.

For other adults…nope, I just shut up (tough to do)…when it’s kids…if I’m not responsible for them, still don’t say anything. Free will can bite you .[/QUOTE]

Yep! I ride western and wear a helmet, all the time. I work with TBI folk and want to at least minimize the chance I will end up that way. But other people are adults and can make their own choices. Free will can indeed bite hard. DH does not and will not wear helmets for riding horses or Harleys and that is entirely his choice.

Preaching individually to people is absolutely useless and just gets people defensive and likely to tune out. Does not work for other behaviors (“hey did you know smoking is bad for you?”) and for all the do-gooder efforts is not likely to make any change. If one doesn’t like to see it then don’t watch. Don’t go to rodeos (and don’t go to MacDonalds and see awful choices people make, or Dunkin donuts, or the cheesecake factory or whatever, or any bar…)

Public information campaigns on TBIs, however, could be very helpful - activitities with risk of TBI, what they look like, what life with a TBI looks like - sure.

[enjoytheride]

On some organized rides you can get a discount if you wear a helmet during the ride.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=lilitiger2;7813661]

Public information campaigns on TBIs, however, could be very helpful - activitities with risk of TBI, what they look like, what life with a TBI looks like - sure.[/QUOTE]

Now that is an interesting idea. I do think a lot of folks do assume that if something happens there will be a chance to pull the plug - like either you’re fine or not at all fine - and that just isn’t how it often works out. A campaign to convey “this is what the risks actually are” would mean that people at least got to make properly educated decisions.

[SportArab]

[QUOTE=kdow;7812739]
We are talking about brain injuries because that is the bit of you that your helmet is protecting. I agree that a helmet will not protect against all things and that you can still get a concussion while wearing a helmet. However it will protect against a decent variety of things and so far there is no study I am aware of to indicate that wearing a helmet makes you MORE likely to get a concussion, so I don’t get “well, they don’t protect against everything so I won’t wear one” as a logical idea.

I don’t want a concussion, I don’t want a skull fracture, I don’t even want superficial injuries to my head that a helmet would protect against, like a bad surface bruise or lacerations. Yes I take some risks just by riding to begin with, but I do what I can to manage those risks by using appropriate safety gear, maintaining tack, riding suitable horses, etc. etc. A helmet is part of appropriate safety gear, for me.[/QUOTE]

It is protecting your skull, not your brain. To understand this, think of the yolk of a raw egg. If you shake the egg violently, but are careful not to break the shell, you will damage the yolk. In the same way, you can protect the skull, but your brain will still be damaged by, basically, a whiplash kind of injury.

[KBC]

@lilitiger2;7813661

Preaching individually to people is absolutely useless and just gets people defensive and likely to tune out. Does not work for other behaviors (“hey did you know smoking is bad for you?”) and for all the do-gooder efforts is not likely to make any change. If one doesn’t like to see it then don’t watch. Don’t go to rodeos (and don’t go to MacDonalds and see awful choices people make, or Dunkin donuts, or the cheesecake factory or whatever, or any bar…)

I guess for me the difference is, and I’m talking as a fat ex smoker, I never justify my bad habits by saying I don’t believe the research. I knew for many years that smoking would kill me, and it still might, but I didn’t go around saying “It’s not that bad for you, they are making up statistics” I chose to smoke because I enjoyed it, it was an informed choice, I knew the dangers and still smoked for many many years. Now I don’t.

If people simply say, as adults, I choose not wear one, it is better than trying to defend that choice by saying I don’t believe that it makes me any more safe when I do wear one.

Having said that, again my gripe with saying it is a personal choice, is that is not your families choice to have to cope with the you with a brain injury. If everyone in the family is agreed that it is a risk that you are all prepared to take then I guess it is OK.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=SportArab;7813954]
It is protecting your skull, not your brain. To understand this, think of the yolk of a raw egg. If you shake the egg violently, but are careful not to break the shell, you will damage the yolk. In the same way, you can protect the skull, but your brain will still be damaged by, basically, a whiplash kind of injury.[/QUOTE]

If a hoof/post/whatever dents your skull, the important bit that is going to get hurt is your brain. Thus, TBI discussion is entirely relevant even if you do want to run with the idea that helmets make no difference at all for concussions.

I will allow that in addition to helmets, people should be familiar with the signs and symptoms of concussions and keep an eye on each other - it can be hard or impossible to assess your own status. (My housemate is sometimes entirely unaware she is having neurological issues, so if you asked if she was okay, she would say yes. In her case, it is not new damage so it is a bit distressing to see but not a medical emergency. But the same can happen with an ongoing injury and increasing symptoms is a sign that there is internal bleeding or swelling so you need medical care ASAP.)

[lilitiger2]

People, when they feel attacked, or defensive, will justify their actions any way they can, usually to get the do gooder to shut up. They may SAY they don’t believe the research or whatever, although it might be any number of things. The point is, as a strategy for motivating change, it is terrible.

Information, presented in a general way, not a “Jane you ignorant, stupid, thoughtless HELMETLESS horse rider, if you had a brain worth saving you’d wear a helmet” kind of way, is helpful. As in a general - here is what a TBI actually is, here are the kinds of things that carry a significant risk (hey I DO one of those things! who knew?) HERE is what life with a TBI actually looks like, here is what families go through with caring for a TBI sufferer). That way, people begin to think - hey, I SKI…I had no idea it was that risky, or ride, or 4 wheel). I don’t want to end up like that guy on TV! They begin to see the risk as personal, and the solution as doable.

Anti smoking campaigns, drinking and driving campaigns, etc…, all use some variation of that. “Brains are beautiful; protect yours!” or something

[NoSuchPerson]

[QUOTE=KBC;7813959]
I guess for me the difference is, and I’m talking as a fat ex smoker, I never justify my bad habits by saying I don’t believe the research. [/QUOTE]

Exactly. Anyone with even a lick of sense has to grasp the concept that wearing a helmet while riding/skiing/bicycling/motorcycling/etc. reduces the risk of injury. If someone wants to say, “I’ve done my own personal cost-benefit analysis and decided that the benefits of not wearing a helmet (comfort, appearance, conformity, whatever) outweigh the risks of a fall without one,” then that’s fine. But don’t say “helmets don’t make a difference,” because that’s demonstrably false.

[lilitiger2]

As soon as you are arguing with someone on something like this, you’ve lost.

[Chaila]

My aunt (the only other horsey person in the family besides me) posted some pics to FB of her riding in a baseball cap and a back protector. She rides western on a 20 + TWH.

Me, the English rider gave her a HUGE guilt trip. She bought a helmet. Sure enough, about a year later, she took a nasty fall hit a tree and if she hadn’t been wearing the helmet I guilted her into she would have had a brain injury. Helmet was cracked.

I always joke that if dressage riders were really traditional they’d ride in Greek battle armor, not like they’re getting married in an Oscar Wilde comedy.

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

I’m a grown-up. When I started riding as an adult, helmets were actively discouraged by every single horse person I knew, including my instructor. I did some reading and decided - scroom, I’m wearing a helmet. (Also changed instructors fairly soon thereafter.)

I’d say my horse friends are still about half and half on helmet-wearing. I don’t think I have any more right to tell them what to do than they have to make fun of me for wearing a helmet. Which actually does happen occasionally. That would be the only time I feel free to respond with “Well, good for you - we gotta get organ donors from somewhere.”

[Beverley]

Some here don’t seem to be processing that unsolicited advice and lecturing will get you nowhere. I’ve ridden a bunch of places including team sortings where grizzled old cowboys see my helmet and mutter ‘hmmm, maybe I ought to get one of those.’ I bet they would not have said that if I had ridden directly up to them and said ‘shame on you for not wearing a helmet.’ Or even ‘I care about you, get a helmet.’

[lilitiger2]

[QUOTE=Beverley;7814301]
Some here don’t seem to be processing that unsolicited advice and lecturing will get you nowhere. .’[/QUOTE]

!!! YES!!!

[katarine]

Bling that sucker up and go be competitive in it. I’ve never had anyone give me grief about my helmet - and I don’t give them grief. Now when a mom at the camp next to me told her 10 YO boy to trot that mare out real good or she’ll buck…and he’s stepping up on her on a hard park gravel road- I shuddered- but lecturing, hollering, railing at them would have accomplished nothing.

Be the example and don’t be a bitch about it.

[billiebob]

Question for those of you who choose not to wear a helmet–if you come across someone who insists you wear a helmet on their horses, what’s your reaction? I ask because my teenage cousin, who only has one parent on the helmet bandwagon, refuses to ride my horse because I won’t let her do so helmetless. I honestly never thought someone saying “please wear a helmet on my horse” was that big of a deal!

Unfortunately I think it’s going to take either high-profile western riders showing in helmets or god forbid an accident in the western world akin to Courtney King-Dye to get western riders consistently wearing helmets. I personally won’t sit on a horse helmetless, even just for a photo–english or western tack.

ETA I’m in the middle of cattle country where helmets aren’t even sold at local tack stores, and not a single person has given me grief about wearing one. Including grizzled old cowboys who’ve seen me herding cattle complete with helmet and safety vest.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=Beverley;7814301]
Some here don’t seem to be processing that unsolicited advice and lecturing will get you nowhere. I’ve ridden a bunch of places including team sortings where grizzled old cowboys see my helmet and mutter ‘hmmm, maybe I ought to get one of those.’ I bet they would not have said that if I had ridden directly up to them and said ‘shame on you for not wearing a helmet.’ Or even ‘I care about you, get a helmet.’[/QUOTE]

Well, like I said, I only mention it unsolicited if I legitimately think the person doesn’t realize. (Newbie at a trail place, I will point out where the helmets are, for example. Or mention if someone is wearing a bike helmet that the standards are different.) Otherwise I either judge silently and take my own action (choosing not to look further into a place for lessons where the website is littered with photos with no helmets - not an environment I want to ride in) or it is with friends who would feel free to give me hassle about something else in return.

The only time I can imagine actually engaging in random lecturing would be if I were feeling particularly energetic and overheard someone saying something ridiculously factually wrong. (Extreme example: “a TBI is no big deal, if it doesn’t kill you, you’ll be fine.” Not something I have actually heard, thankfully.) and even then it would be about correcting the facts, not whatever decision you are making based on those facts.

Otherwise, I have better things to do with my time. Though likely I wouldn’t ride regularly with someone who didn’t wear a helmet. I don’t want to add “sitting with someone with a skull fracture until life flight arrives” to my list of life experiences if I can avoid it. Just not something I want to see/deal with. You have made your choice re helmet, and I am making mine based on your choice. Seems fair.

(Now, my horse, my property, my event? Helmet or no horse. Because I can make those kind of rules in those cases. )

[Beverley]

[QUOTE=kdow;7814445]
Though likely I wouldn’t ride regularly with someone who didn’t wear a helmet. I don’t want to add “sitting with someone with a skull fracture until life flight arrives” to my list of life experiences if I can avoid it. Just not something I want to see/deal with. You have made your choice re helmet, and I am making mine based on your choice. Seems fair.[/QUOTE]

I guess I’m just not that judgmental. I ride with the helmetless all the time, they are in the majority in these parts, and would care for them as I would for someone wearing a helmet in the event of an accident. And yes, I’ve known people who have died while wearing An Approved Helmet. Riding horses is risky, helmet or not, accept that, people. I have on one occasion ridden helmetless to loan mine to someone who needed it more having left hers at the barn and trailered a long way for the ride. And, funny thing, I was approached by a Lecturer who tsk’d me during that ride for not having a helmet (let’s see, 90% of those out that day were helmetless and she chose me). I told her to buzz off.

If I screened every perspective riding buddy for headgear, smoking habits, drinking habits, diet, and what have you, I probably wouldn’t have any riding buddies. Life’s too short to be righteous all the time.

[UrbanHennery]

[QUOTE=billiebob;7814437]
Question for those of you who choose not to wear a helmet–if you come across someone who insists you wear a helmet on their horses, what’s your reaction? [/QUOTE]

If I’m riding someone else’s horse I probably would put mine on. That said, if an instructor, owner of a horse I’m riding, barn manager, or event manager has a helmet required rule I simply go get mine out of my trailer (or hopefully knew ahead of time if I don’t have my trailer) and put it on.

As I said a few pages back… I choose not to wear a helmet when I ride MY horse in the arena or at a show. I do wear my helmet when I trail ride or hack on roads. I also, usually, put on my helmet to ride an unknown horse (not including horses in training with my trainer that I know well).

Your horse. Your rules.

[kdow]

[QUOTE=Beverley;7814536]
I guess I’m just not that judgmental. I ride with the helmetless all the time, they are in the majority in these parts, and would care for them as I would for someone wearing a helmet in the event of an accident. And yes, I’ve known people who have died while wearing An Approved Helmet. Riding horses is risky, helmet or not, accept that, people.[/QUOTE]

That isn’t about being judgmental. My late husband died under my hands while I was waiting for the ambulance and giving CPR. That is not an experience I am particularly eager to repeat. I accept that in riding horses, I am exposing myself to some risk that a bad accident will happen around me, but I prefer to make some effort to minimize that risk by not riding with people who are not as safe as I would like to see, be it wearing a helmet or an issue of trail manners or something like a horse and rider combo that is a wreck waiting to happen. Smoking and drinking and diet don’t enter into it unless they factor into the above mentioned safety issues. (Which it might, if you were actually impaired from drinking. And smoking on horseback sounds like a bad idea. Though to be fair I’d be keeping my distance from anyone actively smoking anyway because cigarette smoke is a migraine trigger for me. I’ve never actually had any smokers be offended by that, though. Likewise refusing red wine at a meal - also a migraine trigger. No big deal.)

(Eta: for purposes of clarity, my husband died from a freak medical thing, not a TBI or riding accident. But I don’t imagine the addition of horses makes things any more pleasant.)

[Herefordgirl]

[QUOTE=Daisyesq;7810467]
If the upper level dressage riders can give up their top hats, western riders can give up the cowboy hats…

It used to be that dressage riders dreamed of the day they would earn the right to ride in top hat and tails. Now in the past few years, it just looks, well, old fashioned and helmets are “in”.

This is an athletic event. Wear a helmet![/QUOTE]

I attended the Rolex 3 day event in Kentucky in April and I couldn’t believe the number of riders NOT wearing a helmet during their dressage test. This was just after Silva Martin fell and suffered a serious head injury. Helmets are more common but not as much as I would have thought.