Bump-Bump-Bumpkin 
~<>~ Remember, the Ark was built by a rank amateur; the Titanic was built by a team of experts~<>~
I am going to print this up for the new stable also.
What Happens When You Fall Without a Helmet:
If you were to take a fall from your horse and land on your head without a helmet, your head which would contain a great deal of kinetic (in motion) energy would strike the hard ground and a good deal of that energy would then transfer back to your head in a great shock to your brain. Hard ground is a poor energy shock absorber, but rather more of a shock reflector.
This would be like hitting a telephone pole with a baseball bat. The pole can’t absorb the kinetic energy of the moving bat, so the pole reflects the energy back into the bat and back up your arms. This is what you don’t want to happen when trying to prevent a head injury. You want the energy to leave your head and move into the ground at a rate that the ground can absorb it at.
Neither your head or the ground compress very well and therefore the impact energy is transferred from your head to the ground over a very small amount of physical displacement, or movement. This rapid deceleration of your skull hitting the ground means that your brain which is floating in a fluid can slam into the inside of your skull and become bruised, resulting in a concussion.
How a Helmet Works:
Helmets are made up of a hard outer shell and a firm, but compressible inner liner normally made from polystyrene. The outer shell is designed to stay in shape in a fall and not deform upon impact. This causes the energy of the helmet contacting the ground not to be focused on a small local area of the helmet, but to be spread out over the entire surface of the helmet where it contacts the ground.
Between your head and the hard outer shell is a polystyrene foam layer. This layer is designed to compress at a predetermined rate when the helmet strikes the ground. This compression rate is designed to decelerate (slow) your head at a rate that doesn’t cause your brain to strike the inside of your skull. This is similar to an airbag in your car. It inflates just before you hit it and then deinflates as your body presses into it, thereby slowing your forward motion so you don’t slam into the steering wheel. Additionally, the force of your head upon the foam compresses the foam and this converts the kinetic energy of your head into mechanical energy (compressing foam) and then into heat which is quickly dissipated.
Accidents:
Once a helmet has been used in an accident and the inner liner of foam has become compressed in even a small amount it must be replaced or rebuilt with a new foam liner, or next time there will be less non-compressed foam to absorb the energy and the shock to your head will be greater.
Aging:
The materials that make up a helmet over time can become compromised due to daily use, ozone and other environmental forces causing them to become weakened. Old helmets should be replaced, or they could fail when called upon.
Could my pony club have permission to use it too? Please? And I’ll go with the Mr. Bumpkin, or perhaps Dr. Bumpkin would sound cooler?
Aleesha
With credit to “Mr. Bumpkin” a scientist and inventor of some reknown.
Because if I hear ONE MORE PERSON say, “I know I should wear an approved helmet, but …” I will have to slap them and my defense would be:
Your Honor, I’m very sorry for what I did, but it was the way I was raised! Honest! Whenever I did something terrifically stupid, my pappy slapped me upside the head! I’m just programmed to slap stupid people.
~Kryswyn~
“Always look on the bright side of life, de doo, de doo de doo de doo”
and everyone else.
Bumpkin has started the ball rolling with our local tack store to have a regional hat showing and fitting.
Several different stores gather in one location, bringing samples of their inventory and sizes. Effort should be made to include as many of the lines as possible.
Perhaps even some educational material on propper fitting ( which I really hope the store employees are versed in, but somehow I suspect many are not)
Stores can take orders for customers.
Everyone benifits.
A worthwhile effort. Perhaps you all can suggest it to your favorite tack store.
_\]
– * > hoopoe
The ancient Greeks did not write obituaries. They only wanted to know if you had a passion.
I tried on EVERY brand of helmet this fall. I always bought approved helmets with no problem to at least jump in so my head cannot be that weird and nothing fit right. I tried CO, here and in Ireland and England, so basically every style, GPA, troxel, international etc etc. I have always had helmets that fit in the past and the jockey skull version of several brands fit great but no show style ones fit me at all. My old jumping helmet was a velvet covered jockey skull but that does not seem to be an option anymore. Since then I have gone through a Troxel, an International and one other I am currently using that is OK, but slips over my eyes in times of stress (ie when I jump, which is when I need the damn thing). Also it is green. Nothing fits right. Everything sits too far up and forward, they slide over my eyes, they don’t protect the back of my head (which I always land on) and they are SOOO stiff.
Please please someone make an old-style- cover the back of your head- adjustable harness that atttaches at the back and holds it down- soft inside- non-headache causing- real sizes hat!!! I would love to protect my head but I don’t feel too great about my choices at the moment.
The Charles Owens are also properly sized. Generally, the higher quality helmets have proper sizing, while the less expensive have generic sizing (s,m,l,xl) and you have to hope one fits. 
One thing that I can tell you about an approved helmet is, when you go to buy it in the store, make sure it is about as snug as you can stand it without inflicting permanent damage. The helmet linings do compress very slightly with use, plus your head shrinks and swells with hot and cold weather. If it is “comfy” in the store, it will loosen up and slip after a few rides. If it is tight in the store, it will be perfect on the horse. This tidbit comes both from personal experience in dealing with the retail public in the tack stores, and from the helmet manufacturers.
If your helmet has become loose, take a strip of thin foam and pad the lining to snug it back up. 
~<>~ Daedalus built the Labyrinthe, so winding and complicated a structure that no man or beast, once shut inside, could ever find the exit~<>~
Ok, Erin…we need this topic to have the little lightning bolt thingy to keep it at the top of the forum! It will reduce our need to shamelessly Bumpkin it Up all thet ime!
~<>~ Remember, the Ark was built by a rank amateur; the Titanic was built by a team of experts~<>~
