I think no equestrian sport is immune to catastrophic accidents…
14 Likes
Absolutely. Jacqui’s comment on this latest mess is spot on, I think:
“I do not respectfully disagree with this,
I disagree with no respect honestly. This is a sport. Helmets make it safer. Life is larger than sport. Brain injuries change lives. Not just the athlete’s. All the people who love and support them. It is selfish and irresponsible to risk a brain injury that can be reduced or eliminated with a helmet. This isn’t a fashion discussion. Technology evolves to make sport safer. Hockey helmets, ski helmets, bike helmets … the list goes on. It is backwards thinking and small minded to encourage anyone not to wear a helmet.”
76 Likes
Not to go completely off topic, but as a parent to a young child I can say that yes, car seat rules are quite ridiculous. My (very petite) sister says if our current state laws were in place when we were kids, she never would have graduated from a seat!
2 Likes
I don’t know where you live, but in my state once she was older than 4 or more than 40 pounds, she certainly would have graduated from a car seat.
I don’t know where you live, but in my state she would have been out of a car booster seat at age 8, no matter her height or weight.
9 Likes
I’m incredibly disappointed to see some of my favorite names on the list. I was hoping after Charlotte Dujardin rose to such prominence wearing a helmet, and rode such flawless tests, this debate would have been shelved.
Even if these riders aren’t moved by the many accidents of top riders whose falls were at least reduced in their impact by a helmet, I wish they’d put the need to set a good example above vanity and tradition.
I’ve never ridden without a helmet, but a middle-aged amateur biddy tsk-tsking a younger person carries less weight than riders who act as role models having beautiful tests wearing safe (but attractive) headgear.
17 Likes
My thoughts exactly. I think there’s a responsibility the upper level riders have to promote safety and have their young fans emulate that. I’m sure their parents would agree.
8 Likes
Here’s an idea: Discontinue shadbelly coats in competition. Nobody can argue that helmets don’t match regular coats.
28 Likes
This is SUCH a good point. Although for some our lives are all about horse sport, there is life outside of horse sport. Not wearing a helmet could very well destroy that life and the life with the horses. It is insane in 2020 during a friggin Global Pandemic we are still having the helmet argument.
29 Likes
I think for many riders achieving the top hat is highly symbolic of success, riding at championship level. It doesn’t make wearing one sensible or safe.
5 Likes
I didn’t even see Carl Hester signed it the first time. Carl!!! What the H??? This is utterly dissapointing.
My biggest riding idols, CH and Michael Jung both choose magicians hat over safety. Unbelievable.
17 Likes
I don’t understand this “choice” issue. Most sports with any kind of risk have safety regulations. Football. Race car driving. Downhill skiing. Baseball. All have to wear helmets, plus other safety equipment. I remember after Dale Earnhart died there was pushback from the olde tyme driver about the equipment that stablizes the neck and head (can’t remember its name), but in the end all complied. There was a lot of pushback when hockey went to wearing helmets, and they grandfathered in older players who didn’t have to wear helmets. I remember going to a Hartford Whalers game and Gordie Howe was the only one not wearing a helmet.
These people need to realize that time and technology moves on. Hockey goalies once didn’t wear masks. Football players once wore leather helmets. They need to get on the express train to the 21st century.
28 Likes
Might I suggest we consider a top hat/helmet combo? I know there are western hat helmets on the market and sun hat helmets on the market for bicycles. Keep the aesthetic but add the neutral harness and safety features with a soft collapsable stove top? I bet it could be done. It might not even be too oversized and awkward. The top could collapse on impact. I do support the idea that if riders are wearing helmets at the highest levels then the tails need an update to be more in keeping with the overall look. Just my two cents.
2 Likes
HANS device.
My dad races and now they fight over who has the better safety equipment! LOL it’s a badge of honor to have the good stuff.
Equestrians could learn a thing or two.
10 Likes
That would also go a lot farther in dispelling the “waiters in tails” look. Though frankly so would ditching hunt coats and stock or choker collars, too. Just having the most up-to-date helmet doesn’t reduce the “stuffy uptight” image if you’re still in the rest of the outfit.
Merry Fox, if you’ve seen the attempts at making “western-look” helmets (not the Troxels like the Sierra with western detailing/styling, actual ‘trying to look like a cowboy hat’), no there really isn’t a way to make it have the same aesthetic but still conform to the shell/padding necessary for the helmet to actually do anything. There’s too much stuff that has to go underneath. Even the slickest new material helmets can’t look like the old hunt caps when maintaining the same general shape.
9 Likes
I’m OK with people not wanting to wear helmets in general; just don’t come around looking for donations when they suffer brain injuries.
As far as requirements for shows; the governing organization gets to make the rules, if riders don’t like it they don’t need to compete.
27 Likes
YES! Non-horsey people don’t understand the coats, and they definitely notice when we don’t wear them. I’ve posted show pictures on various social media, and we get coats waived down here a lot - only shallow, vain, stupid people wear two layers when it’s 90 degrees and 90% humidity. People who follow my riding always comment something to the tune of “I love the shirt you’re wearing! So much better than the jacket.” The jacket is the least functional part of our attire. The helmet is the most functional part. Ditch the butler suit.
28 Likes
Of all the traditions to hold on to, is this really the one they pick? Almost nothing in this level of competition sport has any resemblance to what ‘traditional’ dressage was, not the horses or the tack or the training methods (for the most part). Just the outfits.
I could see getting into an uproar if they dumped the tailcoats for a unitard and body protector. :lol: But helmets? Come now.
12 Likes
The helmet / top hat combo already exists. I’m guessing the ones clinging to tradition still won’t wear it, because it has a harness. What they’re really clinging to is vanity.
6 Likes
I’m fine with someone choosing to not wear a helmet…as long as they’re prepared to personally cover 100% of any and all expenses for injuries to their unprotected heads.
Why should my premiums increase and my coverage decrease because someone else is a selfish idiot?
26 Likes
