[GotSpots]

Great to see Sally in her helmet in the CCI** dressage at Fair Hill today. http://eventingnation.com/home/sarahcousins2.jpg

Would love to see that be a continued trend (with ongoing thanks to Allison Springer for making a splash for wearing hers at Rolex this year).

[deltawave]

*LIKE*

And nobody can ever take away from Allison the fact that she was the pioneer.

[RiverBendPol]

Yup, Sal rocks. This is such a good trend. I hope others will catch on soon.

Yesterday, a friend was going to ride her perfect, obedient, quiet back-yard dressage horse. She said to herself she didn't need to wear a helmet. Then her 14 year old daughter decided to ride at the same time, with her mum. My friend decided to wear the helmet so the kid wouldn't see her without one. The horse spooked, reared, went over backwards, friend landed on her lower back and her upper body/head SNAPPED down onto the ground. Guess what. Her helmet SPLIT up the back. Friend is fine. Kid is horrified. Could have had a very different ending.

Helmets really DO make a big difference and horses really ARE wild animals, in spite of all they do for us.

[riderboy]

That is tres fabulous! I tell you what, I don't think I'll wander over to the dressage forum on a helmet thread again. Yikes! Good to see the right thing being done.

[scubed]

Go Sally - and Allison.

And let me just ask, would it be possible to do a rule change to require approved helmets for the YEH classes, because some of those horses were pretty scary and why those riders were wearing hunt cap apparel when also wearing their raincoats was really unclear.

[JER]

I hope the helmet becomes the norm. It really does make the rider look more like an athlete and less like a background extra in Masterpiece Theater.

Go Sally!

[riderboy]

I hope the helmet becomes the norm. It really does make the rider look more like an athlete and less like a background extra in Masterpiece Theater.

Go Sally!

I suppose that may be part of the problem. They WANT to look like a background extra in Masterpiece Theatre. Look at me! But really, make no mistake about it, the horse is the star.

[Justa Bob]

This is great for everyone! Go Sally. Go Allison.

[Kementari]

I wonder if other helmet-wearing sports went through this same, shall we say, "learning curve."

I mean, I can't imagine an NFL player even wanting to play without a helmet, but what was the evolution in that sport? Cycling? Motorsports? I know that all these things at some point had less protective gear than now, and I wonder how much resistance there was to implementing more modern standards.

I did give my brother a lecture the other night about riding his bike without a helmet. It didn't work, but at least I tried.

[RunForIt]

Hurray for the guts to have good sense - looking forward to meeting Sally this year in Aiken. Again, thanks to my helmet, I did not get a concussion when I broke my neck

[JER]

I wonder if other helmet-wearing sports went through this same, shall we say, "learning curve."

Hockey did. The helmet rule for the NHL was introduced in 1979 but players who'd signed pro contracts prior to 1979 were exempt from the rule. However, the first protective helmet worn in the NHL was in 1928 by a Bruins' player.

The last player on the ice without a helmet was Craig MacTavish in 1996-1997. He seems to be doing okay, as he went on to a long coaching career and is now a commentator for TV with a reputation for a quick wit and a large vocabulary. (MacTavish also had his NHL career interrupted by a prison sentence for killing someone in a DUI. As a Bruins fan, I never expected this guy to last this long.)

However, not everyone fared so well. Ron Duguay, who was known for his hair as much as his hockey, talked to the New York Times about it last year:

“My memory has gotten worse the last 10 years or so,” said Ron Duguay, who played helmetless for the Rangers and three other N.H.L. teams from 1977-78 through 1988-89 and who is taking a series of neurological tests as a result of his concerns. He agreed to share the results of his tests in an interview last month.

“I fail a lot of the memory tests,” said Duguay, 52. “I took a lot of hits to the head with no helmet, and if you’ve taken hits to the head you’ve suffered damage. Now I’m seeing what I can do to keep my health.

“I had fun as a New York Ranger,” said Duguay, who was known as a bon vivant during his playing days. “People say you should write a book, and I would, but I can’t remember.”

Now 60% of NHL players wear shields/visors as well and cages are becoming more common.

[deltawave]

Doogie couldn't possibly have found a helmet to fit over that HAIR! He was the late-70's Polamalu. Thanks for the memories, JER. Ranger fan from birth.

[retreadeventer]

Actually if you are going to applaud one rider you should applaud all the riders who were wearing ASTM helmets -- I think Courtney Cooper did so as well, and I saw several others. They just didn't get their pictures on EN.

One of the reasons was the wind -- it was very gusty and blowing top hats off the riders as well as blowing down all kinds of things. Made the horses unfortunately very "up".

[RunForIt]

Actually if you are going to applaud one rider you should applaud all the riders who were wearing ASTM helmets -- I think Courtney Cooper did so as well, and I saw several others. They just didn't get their pictures on EN.

One of the reasons was the wind -- it was very gusty and blowing top hats off the riders as well as blowing down all kinds of things. Made the horses unfortunately very "up".

Hurray for them all!!! If anyone gets the names, please post here - we need to send them emails thanking them for doing this...