Mr Bumpkin's Helmet Theory

one month ago, (during a lesson) I ended up in the dirt. I won’t bore you all with the details but I landed on my head/shoulder while trying to do a “tuck and roll”.

The impact dislocated my shoulder, broke my arm so severely that I now have major metal holding it together and broke my collarbone.
But, thanks to my Troxel helmet, my brain is fully functional (most of the time!) and I didn’t even suffer a concussion.

At the hospital, they were convinced that I must of hit my head hard enough to cause a concussion or at least pass out (based on damage to the rest of me) and were quite impressed at the protection my helmet had provided.

If this sounds like a testimonial for Troxel, it isn’t - consider it a testimonial for ANY well- fitting approved helmet.

I have never understood how someone in this sport can justify not wearing an approved helmet. No matter how good a rider you are. No matter what you are doing - accidents happen. I ride about 4x’s a week and haven’t fallen in about 5 years.

Before I get back on (one more month -or- so to go!) I’m going to the tack store and replace my helmet. While I’m at it, I’m going to replace my daughter’s - although she hasn’t had a fall that she’s hit her head - just because she’s had it for a while now. (Thanks for the heads up on the need to replace helmets after 5 years or so)

I was going to ride my daugher’s greenie yesterday and she refused to let me ride until I put on an approved helmet. (I think my powder blue helmet is a real fashion statement. After all, I have had it since it was in fashion and since she has been riding, I have been wearing a helmet. This was a big concession, too.) I am reminded though, of the day I fastened my seatbelt about 1/2 mile from a head on collision with a drunk driver back in 1987. To this day, I don’t go out of the driveway without my seatbelt.

Today was the big day. I went to the local tack store and tried on Troxel’s, GPA’s, Charles Owens’, Internationals of all models. The winner was for me: The International Pro Rider. It has a GPA like harness that seems to fit me much better than the GPA. The fit is good and I don’t look too bad. The harness blends in with my hair or so was the consensus of everyone in the tackstore.

So I am now one of the converted. I would urge anyone to go to a tackstore and TRY THEM ON. Somewhere out there, there is one for you. If my daughter cares enough to insist, what kind of mom would I be if I didn’t respect her that much.

The end.

Member of the Baby Greenie Support Group
Remember, dear, if you’re not bleeding and a fairly vital organ is not hanging out of your shirt, you keep riding

“Old Mr. Reliable” spooked at a deer today, bolted, and then became a runaway. I lost my stirrups on the initial spook, and the stirrups banging against him sent him faster and faster (he was a good 6 furlong horse in his racing days). I hadn’t felt that speed since I was galloping at the track! Needless to say, I fell of at about 25mph. Thank god for my approved helmet (which I am now replacing) and my safety vest. I really think I might have had internal injuries if I didn’t have my safety vest on, as well as a concussion. A scary run and fall like that really makes you think about some things, and be thankful. I think I will invest in the best helmet I can find.

Thank you, PLEASE, tell us what happens when a rider wears a hard hat instead of an approved helmet. I have heard the impact is worse than no helmet at all. Any details would be very much appreciated. Thank you!!!

I was just talking with some of my students about why they shouldn’t place their helmet on thier saddle racks because they can fall off onto the hard ground and become damaged and that they need to replace their helmets every so often due to falls or age of the helmet. They all looked at me like I had two heads. You, however, have managed to summarize what happens to helmets wonderfully and I hope you do not mind if I attempt to print out your post and hand it to all my students and parents. THANK YOU BUMKIN!!!

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Flash44:
How old is old?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The manufacturers say 5 years.

I hope it helps everyone.

I am taking a copy of it to the tack shop today for my friends there.

Did all that…worked on 2 of the kids…
And that is probably precisely my point…
The problem is not the fitting of them in the tack shops it is the moving of them while in motion on the horses…

Its not important they stay still when all is good, it is IMPERATIVE they stay still when all *&%$&$# breaks lose on a horse. A horse bucking a child off is MUCH different, as we all know, than falling off a bike.

Enough said… I was just up late last night and had to %$#&%#&$%# about the helmets…

I ordered a black on black GPA/4 today.

I proudly wore my GPA at the VI Classic last weekend (my first horse show in an approved). I was amazed, though, at the number of adults that were NOT wearing approved helmets. There were even a number that were wearing helmets without harnesses ! Excuse me, but what the heck is the point of that???

Wow! Glad you are o.k. You actually brought up something I was wondering about…are all approved helmets created equal or do some offer better protection then others?

I am glad that some one bumped this thread to the first page.

A couple of weeks ago I was ejected from a horse I was jumping. He over jumped the oxer and landed bucking, (well in my youth I like to think I would have stayed on ) and after the third leap and kick I ccame off. My first fall in my GPA
I landed on my shoulder and then my head snapped back and hit the ground. My first thought was “My head doesn’t hurt”.

Thank you so much Bumpkin/Mr. Bumpkin. I remember reading somewhere, about motor cycle helmets, same thing. They were telling people that if you had been in an accident, your helmet needed replacement. It makes perfect sense. Once used in head protection, it would be weakened. Therefore, needing replacement.

How many times have we seen helmets perform, and get reused? Expense is something none of us like to hear, but when it comes to safety, it’s the one thing we need to forget.

Thanks to Mr. Bumpkin for “The Physics of Helmets.” May I use as is for my next newsletter? It is a newsletter for a local chapter of a state dressage association.

I’m taking a copy with me today!! Thanks very much. Maybe it will save some noggins.

~Bucksnort~
You can have my boyfriend, but stay away from my horse.

Herein follows dogchushu’s tale of helmet fitting woe… with a happy ending, of course!

Find a GOOD tack shop with GOOD help! When I mutilated my first helmet (it melted in the car… don’t ask ) I merrily went to the nearest tack shop to get another. The shop assistant shoved one onto my head and declared that one looked the best and was the one I should buy. Not knowing any better, I bought it.

Rode in it the first time and had a MAJOR headache after 20 minutes. The darn thing was too tight! Seems they didn’t have the size I needed in stock, so (probably to make the sale) they sold me the only thing they could get onto my head. Grrrrrr!

Went to another tack shop and tried again. They declared that my head was MUCH too round for the long ovals that are currently all the rage (I have a Charlie Brown basket ball head apparently ) and, while they didn’t have a helmet in my size in the best fitting model for me, they’d order a couple for me (the one they thought would fit plus one size up and one size down).

Sure enough, the helmet size they thought would fit, does. It’s snug but doesn’t give me headaches. Before finding my size, they made sure I styled my hair as I would be wearing it in the helmet.

Also, I ended up with a helmet that wasn’t originally the style I wanted. I really wanted the pretty Royale. But, alas, the Royale does not work on my mutant head. The only way I could get one to work was to have it either too loose or too tight. But other styles worked for me… and they do look better when they fit.

Moral of the story: it’s difficult, but keep trying. There are so many different styles and sizes of helmets out there… one will fit. But your tack store may not have that particular one in stock. And it may not be the one you’re looking at. But keep trying.

Dover has the CO Show Jumper 2000’s on sale for Cheap! Like $100 or so (Normally costs $179 and up). If they fit you, this is a great price for a really nice helmet!

~~Come on, try a little, nothing is forever. There’s got to be somewhere better than In The Middle…~~

I have the same question: Are some approved hemets higher quality than others? Are there different levels associated with those ASTM numbers??? Are the skunks necessarily better? I aim to find out.

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JAS:
Thank you, PLEASE, tell us what happens when a rider wears a hard hat instead of an approved helmet. I have heard the impact is worse than no helmet at all. Any details would be very much appreciated. Thank you!!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, when you are wearing a simple hard shell (hardhat), the force of the impact is not diffused and thereby reduced through the inner lining such as one finds in an approved. The same force that impacts upon a hard shell is transferred directly to the skull and the contents thereof (your brain).

I hesitate to give any ‘benefit’ to a plain hard hat since they are not safe, but the benefit over no helmet is the reduction of possible penetrating head injuries, like if your head happened to hit the ground on a steel surveying spike. Also, the hard hat might reduce abrasion, but that is minor if the concussion kills you. But at least it means less cosmetic work for the funeral home!

~<>~ Remember, the Ark was built by a rank amateur; the Titanic was built by a team of experts~<>~

Mr Bumpkin actually sat down and typed the whole thing out and I just pushed Post Now.

Maybe we can get him to design a helmet that would be approved and yet “fashionable”!!!

He thinks we should wear helmets just like motorcycle or football helmets to be honest.

He has pointed out that Knight’s did that