Western riding & helmets

[Susara]

Hi there

Coming from an English background (jumping, mostly) I have always been told to wear a hard helmet whenever I get onto a horse. And it's not just jumping - dressage schools are just as insistent on the helmet, and ditto with cross-country.

But it seems that helmets are unheard of in the Western tradition. Are the English people really just overreacting? I've had a fall or two myself where I was pretty happy that I had the protection.

I guess Western horses aren't typically as hyper as the TBs we tend to use, but still I can't imagine that Western riders don't fall off with all those stops and turns. Don't QHs ever bolt?

Reason I'm asking is partly just out of interest, but also because I've discovered a very nice Western yard where I'd love to go riding some times (they have wonderful weekend workshops). On the one hand I'm a bit worried about riding without the helmet, on the other I guess there's going to be lots of joking about the 'sissy Enlish girl' riding with her black helmet amongs all the Stetsons... :-)

[galadriel]

The very first show I ever attended was a mixed English/Western show. One of the classes was barrel racing. One of the competitors had a tack failure which ended with her horse running full speed into the fence, and her flying over into the fence headfirst. She was wearing an English protective helmet, and it saved her life. As it was, she was taken away in an ambulance with a pretty strong head injury.

The reason that Western riders don't wear helmets is because it's not macho. Of course there *IS* a reason for anyone to wear a helmet; no matter how good a rider you are, no matter how trustworthy your horse, you can still have a bad trip, a slide on wet ground, a foot go into a hole that neither you nor the horse saw...a bee sting your horse on the back so he starts bucking...there are a million and a half ways for the *experts* to be thrown.

The primary reason for head injury when coming off a horse is due to the height, not to the horse's actions which caused you to fall off. Even if you're just walking and you happen to come off, if you hit your head, there is a chance for serious injury. Your brain is WORTH protecting. It doesn't matter what other riders think or don't think (although, if they're not wearing helmets, they clearly don't think). Your own responsibility is to YOU.

And hey, perhaps if you set a good example, you might help convert some of those riders. More and more Western riders are overcoming the macho tradition and wearing a helmet...the more good examples they see, the more acceptable it becomes.

[KarinUS]

If you love your family, you will wear a helmet regardless.

My OH started to ride Western and thought he would look silly if he wore a helmet.
But the point is even if looking sharp is more important to you than your health, think of your family and how they would deal with you dying or having to care of someone with serious brain damage.

Wear a helmet even if you are the only one at that place.

[cvb]

Susara

Here in UK it is not a legal requirement for adults to wear a helmet, but most schools insist you do cos of insurance.

Of course there isn't much western over here - but the same insurance applies so most comps allow you to wear a helmet.

But you can know get "stetson" covers for helmets, and also western helmets with harness etc. You just need to hunt around a bit !

(Tho given that most modern helmets make you look like an egg head anyway, the "stetson" cover must look like a comedy hat !! But who cares if its protecting your most precious asset !)

[KarinUS]

LOL. Yes, I got Ray a Trail helmet. It's like a regualr schooling helmet but it's light tan in color and has a leather band around the front. The Western hat looking helmets are just too hideous.
I want him to be safe - not be laughed at on purpose! :D

[Peace]

I used to be the only adult at my yard to wear a helmet when not jumping - now there's two of us, so maybe I'm starting a trend!

I really don't get many comments at all, honest. The few times someone has said something, I usually reply (in my best laconic drawl;) ), "Reckon you've got more brains than me - I have to take care of what little the good Lord give me."

Since no self-respecting cowboy wants to be thought of as an intellectual, that shuts 'em right up.:p

[Izod1360]

most of the western ranchs here make you wear a helmet no matter what. most western trained horses that i have seen are every calm but still can spook just like any other horse in the world. if you ever get to watch a rodeo on tv or something look at the horses that they ride, the horses are very well trained but they are kinda wild acting when they are waiting to go and everthing like that!

[Kalypso]

ROFL!! I know it's not funny, but I couldn't help laughing at the question of "do western horses not bolt"... because my "western" quarter horse bolted any chance she got when i first bought her!!!

One of the reasons western riders don't wear helmets is because it is, simply put, the culture. I remember a long while ago reading a thread around these same lines, but lord only knows where, when, or by whom. I show western, in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association at my home college. Part of the western riding "outfit" includes a western hat. no one would even *think* about going into the show ring of a western pleasure class with a helmet on instead of a hat. I don't think it is even that they think "oh, those stupid english hats"...i think it's more of just...NOT thinking about it at all.

I always wear my helmet when riding, western OR english (i didn't used to, but after a pretty close call accident, I do now). But when I go into the show ring, the thought of putting on an english helmet never even crosses my mind. It's my silver slinky, black vest, black jeans, black chaps, black boots and black, velvet cowboy hat. period.

Please don't all jump on me. I KNOW you should wear one anyway, but it just DOESN'T happen. On a ranch, riding for fun, anything else, I've got the helmet on, and yes, i've been made fun of before but I don't care.

[Grace O'Malley]

I'd wear the helmet--I ride both western and English, and I always do. If someone wants to make an issue of it...well...that's their silly problem :p.

If you want to show western, or ride in fancy dress parades...then I guess you have to think about it (though helmets were acceptable at schooling level shows I've been to).

There's a cable channel here that seems to show endless bull-riding and bronc riding... I flip through it, but sometimes get caught up in the sheer athleticism of the horses. Anyway, those guys sometimes wear a cage-type mask to protect their faces, but they *never* wear helmets. Guess that says a lot about their priorities!

Plus I was just reading an article yesterday from the NY times about how lots of minor head injuries (that don't even knock you out), can eventually add up to noticable cognitive problems. Who needs that?

Grace

[denise42]

I too do western and don't see helmets worn during shows.
They do make western hats with helmets in them, but it looks rather odd.
I wear a helmet sometimes during training. I should wear one all the time as my mare has done everything in the book to try to get me off her. Bolting, spinning, bucking , crowhopping, cowkicking, and trying to scrape me off on the wall.
I love riding....:D

[missbobbie]

I have a helmet but due to those "laughing" people, I don't usually wear it. I have decided to wear it after reading these posts. I make my children wear their helmets when riding their bikes and when they are on a horse. I better shape up and become a good example. It is so true that even the best riders can have unexpected accidents! Thanks everyone and safe riding!!!!!

[Kalypso]

Originally posted by Grace O'Malley
Plus I was just reading an article yesterday from the NY times about how lots of minor head injuries (that don't even knock you out), can eventually add up to noticable cognitive problems. Who needs that?


Yes, it can, i know, one of my friends has had it happen. She's not horsey by any means, but she hurt her head while ice skating when younger. She fell a few times in a short amount of time, hitting her head every time. It never once knocked her out, but she now has brain injury. She gets horrible headaches from it, cannot remember anything from nearly a year of her life, is somewhat "dyslexic" but not exactly, just don't know how else to describe it. She's on a lot of medication, that she'll never be able to leave off.

[canadianbeaver]

I have never and will never EVER get on a horse without a helmet!

[jinglejoys]

I'm a "happy hacker" and hope to have western lessons soon but even happy hacking in england I wear a "Hat Trick" which is not very "English"
I also ride a mule--guess I don't like being a "Sheep",more of a goat person myself but there again my cousin spent three weeks in intensive care after falling in a riding accident without a hat many years ago and was not expected to live so I'd rather look "funny" and alive in a hat than "macho" and dead without one :0)