When I school dressage at home I do not wear a helmet. The only time I wear a helmet is when I jumping or competing. That's the only time! I have had people tell to wear one but I tell them to mind there own biz. I am an adult and don't need to be told what to do. I know what i'm doing. There is alot in this world that you can do that will injury you, but alot of people don't use caution. Like seat belts, Fura-Zone if humans touch it with there bare hands can get cancer. Just a few good examples. Word of advice...don't tell people what to do!
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My SIL is currently in hospital in a coma, unable to breathe on her own because she was in a motorcycle accident without a helmet. There is no helmet law in Florida and she is an adult, able to make decisions on her own. Her family, kids and friends are in great pain because she felt it was more fun to feel the breeze blowing thru her hair than to wear a helmet. Yes, it is your choice to protect your head or not, but when you make that decision, you should think about how your family would feel if you ended up with a brain injuryComment
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by chaotic mind:
Part of society's responsibility is to protect children from making errors that could result in serious harm to themselves. Once they have reached adulthood if they still don't have the reasoning power to provide for there own safety it is to society's advantage to let them remove themselves from the gene pool. (Darwin Style) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That's a good one!!!"I'm not crazy...my mother had me tested"Comment
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I think it's a personal decision and that if someone not wearing a helmet has a bad fall off a horse and survives, they'll be likely to wear one henceforth. Then again, they may never fall off and will never have experienced ill effects from not wearing one.
I trail rode a few times with a woman at a barn I used to board at. She wore no helmet. The first time we went out I asked, "Where's your helmet?". "Oh, I never wear one." I figure, it's a personal decision so I didn't make an issue out of it. Enter the man on the ATV that insisted on roaring up behind us on a trail that is supposed to be off limits to motorized vehicles. The woman's Arab spooks, is off the to races, she falls off, gets kicked in the front and back of her skull as she's falling, collapses on the trail unconscious. Almost died. Now has lost her sense of smell, permanently as a result of the accident.
Now she wears a helmet. It's a personal decision, but I do inwardly wince every time I see someone without one, having experienced first hand that "manure happens" and it ain't pretty.www.tailtuxedos.com
Growing old is inevitable; Growing up is optional.Comment
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Can't help it .. I think everyone should wear a helmet. But as many say - it is a personal choice. I'm with Darwin on this, helmet laws for motercycles, and seatbelt laws. Those who are too thick to get it should get theirs and leave the rest of us alone. If I care about someone I'm going to say something.. if I don't I won't - they are too good to have an "accident" since "accidents" are always a predictable event.Horsemanship and the partnership, learn it, talk it, admire it, pass it on!
"The Pony" Theodore O'Connor 1995-2008Comment
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I can't believe that people actually admit they don't wear a helmet and seem proud of it?!! To me, that is the ultimate in stupidity and ignorance... If you wrote that, then you do need to fall of and hit your head! The helmet is the only thing that saved my life last year. I spent about a month in the hospital with a head injury and some of that time was in a coma. My brain still swims around if I hit my head! At the very least, you can still ride another day! Unbelievable...Comment
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I can't beleive anyone is stupid and ignorant enough to want people to fall and hit their head. Tell me Fergie do you tell smokers you hope they die of lung cancer? How about over weight people, do you tell them you hope they get high blood pressure and have a heart attack?Quality doesn\'t cost it pays.Comment
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Do you all wear helmets while grooming your horses?
I know a woman that got kicked in the head grooming her horse and died instantly. Its funny but I don’t remember so many horror stories about riding back in the 70’s when hardly anyone wore helmets and no one wore seat belts.
My point is that horses are dangerous animals to be around and you must assume a certain level of risk. Some people weren’t born with a helmet on, all this safety gear that you all are so comfortable with hasn’t been around forever. When I was a kid we rode horses with out helmets, bikes without helmets and drove in cars with out seat belts and baby car seats.
I don’t think it is as cut and dry as you Darwin people think. Don’t be so judgmental! I agree that a helmet is a really good idea but they take some getting used to when you are not used to them. And, when your telling stories of the one person that got hurt because they didn’t have a helmet don’t forget to count all the accidents that happened where they didn’t get hurt. I see more accidents from people riding beyond there skill level than anything else.
I also have heard of people that had helmets on that still were injured so it would be advisable to ride with caution even with a helmet you are not invincible. And, personally my injuries have been to my back rather than my head. Maybe we should all wear body armour!No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. ~Winston ChurchillComment
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good point MSP. I have a friend who works in the racing industry who in fact does wear a helmet when grooming and tacking the excitable Thoroughbreds...
Horses are large, and can be quite dangerous. Body protectors, helmets, etc. help lessen the risk of permanent injury.
Using caution even when grooming and tacking is essential. Don't sit/squat to apply polos and boots (or picking hooves)for example.
to me it is about respecting a beast that has ability to crush me. There is no need to go overboard (like wearing a suit of armor when grooming)just use common sense and appropriate protection...
jeez, I could easily be talking about sex too!
Every horse deserves, at least once, to be loved by a little girl---Anon.Comment
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by shakeytails:
Amen, county!!!
I propose a new topic "People who have a hissy fit because I don't wear a helmet!! ARGH!" </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah, HOW DARE SHE care about a friend?
Give me a break - she's not throwing a hissy fit. She's concerned about the person's safety. If you read what the OP wrote, her friend has already shut up about it. Doesn't mean she doesn't care about her friend.Comment
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county,
Actually, it drives me nuts when I see people smoking and eating themselves into oblivion, but I realize that habits are hard to break and stupidity... well that can't be helped either. These are probably the same people who don't have health insurance that I end up paying for... Not wearing a helmet is just stupid, stupid, stupid. And yes, I actually did wear me helmet while grooming when my injury was just "fresh", if you really want to know. And no, I'm not wimpy, just smarter.Comment
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by MSP:
Do you all wear helmets while grooming your horses? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
When I'm picking feet or working with the legs, usually. Otherwise, no.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I don’t remember so many horror stories about riding back in the 70’s when hardly anyone wore helmets and no one wore seat belts. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Speak for yourself, dear. My dad put seatbelts in our 1957 stationwagon and we wore them, by god. And then delayed buying a new car until 1965 when they became standard equipment. Why? Because he was a carrier pilot in WWII and saw firsthand how beneficial restraints can be when a fast-moving vehicle stops suddenly.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">All this safety gear that you all are so comfortable with hasn’t been around forever. When I was a kid we rode horses with out helmets, bikes without helmets and drove in cars with out seat belts and baby car seats. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
You forgot to mention how many people smoked, and how nothing was ever said about secondhand smoke. But we all know better now, don't we? Well, at least some of us do.
Whether you or any adult wants to wear a helmet when you ride a horse is your business. I don't wish you ill, but don't try to justify your decision with reflections on the good old days and an argument that equates to "we're all going to die anyway." You'll sound a lot smarter if you just say "you take your level of risk and I'll take mine."
And, just for the record, I rode for years without a helmet and took two nasty spills during that time. Broken arm and a broken back, but no head injuries.
I began wearing a helmet, not because of those falls, but because it just seemed so stupid not to. Just an unnecessary risk. About two years later, I had a minor spill -- I nearly landed on my feet, did a little somersault ... and hit my head hard on the arena wall. Hard enough for my dentist to ask me two months later if I'd been in a car accident because my teeth were loose.
You draw your own conclusions.__________________________
"... if you think i'm MAD, today, of all days,
the best day in ten years,
you are SORELY MISTAKEN, MY LITTLE ANCHOVY."Comment
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Like I said Fergie we all have our idea of stupid. Your comments put you in the group I consider so.Quality doesn\'t cost it pays.Comment
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She's an adult, no?? You've already mentioned it to her, so leave it alone. It's her choice.=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
~Jilltx~Comment
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the problem with folks that don't wear helmets, seatbelts, or chose to smoke, is that it does impact me - it impacts everyone, with higher insurance premiums.
in this life there are plenty of risks that will come our way that we won't be given a choice on. how you chose to handle those things will define the person that you are.
when someone choses to not wear a helmet, seatbelt, or smoke, they are making a VERY selfish choice. you can call it a 'personal decision' or an issue of 'personal freedom', but i'm also free to think anyone who rides without a helmet is an idiot.* trying hard to be the person that my horses think i am
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by fergie:
county,
Actually, it drives me nuts when I see people smoking and eating themselves into oblivion, but I realize that habits are hard to break and stupidity... well that can't be helped either. These are probably the same people who don't have health insurance that I end up paying for... Not wearing a helmet is just stupid, stupid, stupid. And yes, I actually did wear me helmet while grooming when my injury was just "fresh", if you really want to know. And no, I'm not wimpy, just smarter. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well....we all have different ideas about what "smarter" is don't we?
As well as "polite", "not judgemental", "open minded" and so on....
BTW...the health insurance comment was priceless....do you have to study to obtain that level of bigotry and self rightneousness?Comment
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Riding Helmets...I hate the dirty things...but I wear one since my wife had her riding accident and I don't have the luxury of not wearing one now (and nope, she wasn't wearing a helmet..it was always a fight to get her to wear one).
I grew up not wearing them except for very light cloth/shellac ones for shows...no straps on em' either. Occasionally a Caliente was worn, but they were miserable things if you didn't have a head shaped like a pumpkin.
We don't need Nanny's at the barn...If it's an adult riding, shut up about helmets. Free will still reigns. It's their choice. Smokers make a terrible example to kids, over-eating and anorexic riders do too, so do druggies and people cheating on their spouses...would you walk up to them and make a quip about being a bad example? No, you wouldn't.
If you like helmets, wear a helmet. If you like a "crash and burn" vest when you jump...good on ya, wear one...but don't nag those who don't wear em'."Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc"Comment
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Question for these brave, "older experienced" riders who refuse helmets....
If you were thrown and someone had the ability to freeze the action 2 seconds before impact and ask you if you wanted a helmet, what would you say? I'll bet you would say no thanks, I'll take the broken skull.... Right, sure you would!
Can we all say hypocrite?
Don*Charter Member-Blue Tarp State Driving Clique*
"You can't always get what you want, but if you try, you just might find you get what you need" Mick JaggerComment
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so all of you who are pissed because not everyone wears a helmet are perfcet right? Not overweight, don't smoke, do everything perfect?Quality doesn\'t cost it pays.Comment
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Ok- let's all make a deal: Non-helmet wearers stop making fun of helmet wearers (at Western barns I get called 'Adam Ant' for my blue and red helmet cover) and making them feel uncomfortable protecting their own saftey. Helmet wearers, let's not bear ill wishes toward non-helmet wearers, and let's remember that in many disciplines there is pressure NOT to wear a helmet. Not everyone is good at ignoring their own public image, even when it is in their own best interests.
And remember, folks: If you think your hairstyle is more important than your brain, it probably is. --Old radio commercial promoting bike helmets.
Edited to change 'safetery' to safety- sheesh, typing too fast. What's a safetery?\"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.\" - GandhiComment
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