Helmets

Most long-time Equestrians grew up riding without helmets. Western disciplines certainly did not don protective helmets – the cowboy hat is the norm for the well-turned-out rider. The only place you would regularly see any protective gear was in jumping competitions – but even show jumping opted for the less-protective velvet cap.

Now there is a great “helmet debate” raging. Certain states have enacted helmet laws for those under 18 while in public places. Most boarding barns have helmet rules for children – and some have helmet rules for all riders. Most people are free to choose whether to helmet or not.

What is confirmed is that wearing a proper protective helmet can save you from serious head injury, should you fall from a horse or be bucked off and strike your head. There are hundreds of people who can attest to this.

However, helmet use is still not universal. Many people, including myself, do not wear a helmet while riding. Why is this?

For myself, it is an interesting story. I have always owned a helmet. I got into jumping in Elementary school, and have kept a helmet handy ever since. After I graduated from college, I got a new helmet to use while working young or unruly horses. I wore it in the round pen and on the first handful of rides I would take on any horse. For about a year, I wore it almost every ride I took. However, during that year, I seemed to fall off when I wore the helmet, and did not when I did not wear one. I was not riding young or rank equines – only my horses that I knew well and were not hot or silly. My husband put it together as helmet=falling for me. He asked me to stop wearing one. As I had not ever fallen on my head or even hit my head during these falls, I agreed.

That being said, I do not understand the mentality that would make someone ridicule a helmet-wearer. They are, after all, only protecting themselves.

I also think that parents should provide a helmet for their children, and encourage its use. I do not believe, however, that it should be a law. I am also a person who does not care if someone else decides to put their unhelmeted child on the back of an unrestrained horse. Bad parenting? I call it Darwin at work. We do have an overpopulation problem, so why not let the problem “fix” itself? Are we seriously that superior that we need to criticize others?

If you are concerned about striking your head/head injury, then putting a helmet on is the easiest thing you can do to protect your noggin.