[QUOTE=LJStarkey;8348381]
As we all know, appearances speak louder than words.
From the way a hat is creased, I can tell whether the wearer is an amateur or a pro and whether that person’s specialty is working cow horse, reining, halter, western pleasure or something else.
I can tell whether it’s summer or winter by whether the wearer has on straw or felt. The quality of the hat tells me whether the wearer knows quality and has chosen to flout the rules regarding Labor Day and felt.
I can tell whether a cowboy is the real thing or a wannabe.
A hat isn’t “fashion.”
Hats are expensive purchases, carefully tended and stored when not in use in specially designed hat cans.
A hat is the person’s complete identity sitting atop her head, speaking silently to the world.
Here’s what helmets say silently to the rest of the western world:
- I’m a child.
- My mom made me wear this.
- My horse isn’t broke.
- I’m afraid of my horse.
- I’ve never been on a horse before.
- I have a physical disability.
- I have a mental disability.
No professional western horse trainer will ever wear a helmet as long as those perceptions exist. No trainer will risk his/her livelihood in that way.
Those perceptions may seem wrong to you, but they are real. If you want to western riders to wear helmets, you will need to change the perceptions.
And I think you’re much much much likelier to get western riders to wear yellow shirts than to wear helmets.[/QUOTE]
I think that this post is pretty spot on with helmets and the AQHA. Is it right, maybe not, but is it the truth. Yep. Everyone can get their panties in a bunch over it but perception is reality. That is exactly how the helmet is perceived.
