I always thought the dressage competition dress was based on the military uniform, and that dressage competitions in the military were held well before the twentieth century, more like 18th century. The 18th century military uniform did involve a tail coat, and often white britches.
Personally, I am in favor of keeping the helmet for safety, but bringing back the sword to respect tradition.
Apparently not wanting to give people the choice to wear a top hat over a helmet is in line with wanting the choice of freedom of OUR REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEMS.
@hoopoe thats some special mental gymnastics you did to come up with this correlation. What about all the other choices riders donāt get the freedom to make in order to show? Oh, they donāt care.
Iām convinced this top hat thing is an ego issue. Ego needs to be fed that they get to wear a top hat and therefore are better than those who donāt.
I am failing to understand the connection so if you do not wear a helmet you can not get pregnant?
and I thought the helmet mandate was an insurance and physical safety driven item, never thought about reproduction
Not that long ago, the FEI REQUIRED wearing a top hat at FEI level competition, and helmets were forbidden. Iām glad they were not so stodgy as to continue to forbid helmets. Charlotte Du Jardin was one of the first to buck tradition and wear a helmet while virtually all the other top riders stuck with top hats.
I think not wearing a helmet is stupid. But to be fair to the petitioners, my brief skimming of the article indicated that they are only asking for the option to wear top hats in quite rarified circumstances. Only in the test itself, in Grand Prix competition, in 5* FEI competitions. As I understand it, they would still wear a helmet in warm up, awards, and all competitions below FEI 5* Grand Prix.
I never get on a horse without a helmet, but Iām not good enough to ride Grand Prix in a 5* FEI competition. Given that the whole point of dressage competition is to demonstrate how exquisitely trained and submissive the horse is, I actually see their point that they should be allowed to demonstrate that the training has achieved a submissive horse in complete harmony with the rider for the 8 minutes of the test.
Now the warm up ring? Thatās more dangerous.
I think it looks nice. I do think we probably look a little silly to the outside world wearing a dinner jacket in a sports competition, but I canāt think of an alternative that would match the āformalā feel of showing. And now with all the tech fabrics and breathable designs, itās not so stuffy and restrictive.
I think the tophat paints the āclassicā picture, and I had a moment of wistfulness when helmets took over just because it means Iāll never āearn my tophatā, but thatās all it was. A moment. The tophat isnāt what makes a great rider.
Sword might come in handy in the warmup ring and, currently, encouraging people to maintain social distancing.
Put me in the group that thinks top hats look dumb AF.
Just like I donāt understand how anyone under 40 years old ever gets started smoking cigarettes these days, with all we know about how disgusting and harmful they are, I do not understand why people think theyāre too good or too special to wear a helmet, at any level and in any discipline. IDC how perfectly your GP horse is trained, literally anything can happen when youāre working 1400 lb beasts. But, thatās people for you I guess.
For myself I have zero desire to wear anything other than a helmet. I think
@ Heinz 57
touched on the issue. These are the absolutely top riders in the world and they feel they have earned to honor to use the top hat as a symbol of their accomplishment.
Also, there is a continuum of safety products and issue is ultimately where to draw the line. Eventers are required to wear body protectors and dressage riders are not, While dressage riders do not come off the horse in competition as often as cross country riders, dressage riders do sometime get bucked off and break ribs, vertebra or the clavicle. As a logical issue, would it be OK for the FEI to mandate the use of a body protector in dressage competition? For the FEI to say riders are not permitted to hold the reins in one hand during a victory lap because holding he reins with two hands gives you more control?
No, there is no chance either of those things is going to be proposed, but itās the same principle involved, just a matter of degree.
Eventers are only required to wear body protectors during cross country phase. Not during dressage for show jumping phase. So not really a good comparison.
I know that eventers are only required to wear body protectors during the cross country phase and not during dressage or stadium jumping.
My point was that if the FEI can mandate the level
of safety equipment a rider must use in competition, logically it could say that riders do have a risk of injury in dressage or stadium jumping or driving or vaulting and that despite the different level of risk, they could logically override the riders decision as to the precise level of risk the rider wants to take on and mandate body protectors as well. Iām trying to point out that the issue is not a dichotomy between mandate or donāt mandate helmets, but instead that there is a continuum, and one has to draw the line somewhere. I agree with the FEI and most posters that the line should be drawn between require helmets and donāt require body protectors, but once you view the issue as drawing a line in a continuum of choices, I donāt think the petition looks so stupid.
Top hats just look so silly and old fashionedā¦ Especially the Abraham Lincoln ones. I do get the whole āearning the rightāĀ to wear it aspect, but FEI riders can still wear the shadbelly and ride in a double bridle to set themselves apart from the scores of First Level amateurs. Maybe the shadbelly doesnāt ācountāĀ anymore because everybody and their mother wears them in the 2ā6āĀ hunters these days, but I just donāt get the appeal of sacrificing safety just to look like Mr Peanut.
And the quote in the article along the lines of āNobody I know has been badly hurt during a dressage testāĀ is so off the mark.
IIRC helmets were not forbidden, but wearing a tailcoat with a helmet was. If you wanted to protect your brain in FEI competition, you had to wear a short show jacket.
Wearing a helmet does not in any way detract from the submission of the horse and harmony between horse and rider., so Iām not buying that argument at all.
Some traditions are definitely worth clinging to. Others, not so much.
I did not understand that distinction, as I was not in danger of being able to ride in FEI competition at the time! I would have wanted to wear the tailcoat with a helmet.
The point about the level of training and submission of the horse was not to say that a helmet detracted from that in any way. The point was at the level of skill of the riders and level of training of the horses, I agree with the petitioners that the level of risk from permitting the optional use of a top hat during the actual Grand Prix test in a 5* FEI competition is minuscule.
Minuscule is not zero, so I would wear a helmet. Iām
just saying I donāt think these riders are pushing for something thatās off the charts stupid.
This ālogicā brings to mind the Parelli BS re helmets: if you wear a helmet itās because youāre chicken and also your horse is poorly trained.
I DO wear a helmet because Iām chicken! If I ever get to FEI Grand Prix competition on a beautifully trained, submissive horse, Iāll still wear a helmet ā my choice for myself.
Iām just saying I can see where the signers of the petition are coming from, and while I would not go helmetless, I donāt think their position is irresponsible or ridiculous.
Clanterā¦to quote Col. Edmunds (RIP)ā¦āLadies telling other ladies what to doāā¦
You are in the most danger at the mounting block, but I would agree the warmup ring comes a close second. But that aside, any horse, any time, can take exception to something it has seen a thousand times and never spooked at before. A camera flash, a child in a stroller, someone in the stands tossing a scarf over their shoulder. You. Just. Never. Know.
As for tradition, I confess it took me a while to get used to helmets with shadbellies. Now I think top hats look ridiculous and out of place. But I see absolutely no reason we canāt wear what the eventers wear on x-country. It is so dumb to me that even they have to change clothes for the dressage phase.
A couple of people on this thread have suggested making helmets that look like tophats. Itās been done many times. They look more stupid than the stovepipe Abe Lincoln hats and no one buys them. Just leave the āfashionā out of it and wear a freakinā helmet. Why is that hard?
We donāt require smokers, obese people, people who slice off their own legs with chainsaws, people who drive drunk, or any of the other myriad things you can do to incur substantial medical costs to absorb 100% of the costs of doing so, so I donāt think the argument that people who voluntarily participate in a dangerous activity should pay 100% of their costs will fly, sorry.
Riding is aRiding is an inherently dangerous activity, even if you are careful, responsible, and take all reasonable precautions like wear a helmet and body protector.
Iām just thankful that the personal injury lawyers and the insurance companies havenāt shut it down.
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