Someone who doesn't wear a helmet!! ARGH!

[county]

Whats hair got to do with it? I have hardly any, LOL

[fergie]

mzpeepers,
I enjoyed your wit, although my thinking on the subject is verbatim to jacksmom's comments.

county,
Were you the one licking the window in the back of the short yellow bus? Come on, don't disappoint me. Say something else that's stupid...

[RSB]

You know, I honestly think its like anything else in life, people are going to do what they want and others need to accept that for what it is. IMO, if you want to wear one, please do. If not, that is your choice and decision. I think everyone has to find a certain comfort level with these things, just like they have to find a comfort level with how they feel about wearing a seatbelt, smoking, drinking, etc.

Do I wear one every time I ride? Absolutely. Am I going to condemn anyone who doesn't? No way - its not my place to judge. I'm sure there are plently of things that I have done in my lifetime that others did not/would not approve of.

[jacksmom]

perfect? hardly i also don't go around 'pissed' at anyone. life is just too short for that.

but i do understand that my choices have ramifications that go beyond me and i try to make informed decisions.

[Robyn]

As a confirmed helmet wearer I find it hysterical that the new dressage barn that a friend is at requires the wearing of gloves in the indoor arena, but helmets are not mentioned and rarely worn. Yes, a blister could be fatal!

[Bettie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Robyn:
As a confirmed helmet wearer I find it hysterical that the new dressage barn that a friend is at requires the wearing of gloves in the indoor arena, but helmets are not mentioned and rarely worn. Yes, a blister could be fatal! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

what?? Geeeez....that takes the cake. Crazy!

[mp]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by county:
so all of you who are pissed because not everyone wears a helmet are perfcet right? Not overweight, don't smoke, do everything perfect? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not overweight and don't smoke. Not pissed. And far from perfect, as are my horses. Hence, the helmet.

And, just for the record, I DO hate what the helmet does to my hair. But it does give me an excuse to buy really cool cowboy hats.

[DMK]

<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... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Honestly, if you are going to use this example, it least use it correctly.

We end up paying for those people if they are insured too. Maybe even more so, because it costs a lot to keep a chronic condition from developing into an acute one. If they are on lipitor and uninsured, that ain't your nickel.

I love these threads. Because the ONE thing you can count on is that for every person that comes on and posts some variation of Not Wearing a Helmet = Stupidity, that's probably one more non helmet wearing fence sitter that jumps back to the helmetless side of the fence.

Calling people stupid is a sure fire way to not get them to even pay an ounce of attention to any valid points you might have. In fact, I am beginning to think that the name callers (on both sides) are actually spies for the other side. It makes more sense that way. As a strategy for the argument they profess to be supporting, well, it is kind of... what's the word I'm looking for? Not smart? OK, that's two words, but you get my drift.

[mp]

For the record, I've never called anyone anything for not wearing a helmet. I'd be out of breath at my barn -- out of 100+ horses and riders, there are less than 10 helmet wearers. I never bring it up to non-wearers and they don't mention it to me. It's just not an issue.

What I do object to is trying to justify the decision not to wear one by pointing out all the risky behavior that was acceptable in the past. Wear one or don't. Your business. But spare me the false logic.

[hijumpin1]

Here we go again. Another thread on helmets. Help!!! Make it stop!!!

[DMK]

mp, if you never called someone stupid for not wearing a helmet, you have nothing to apologize for. My post was certainly crystal clear in that regard.

Actually, you have nothing to apologize for if you did call someone stupid. Or at least not to me. I could care less.

But if you (the generic "you") did call someone stupid, and you do care that there are people out there riding without helmets, and you do want to change things, you just might want to rethink your strategy. Pissing into the wind is uncomfortable. Or so one hears.

[fergie]

Stupid is as stupid does.

[MSP]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mp:
<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. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wow, talk about getting miss quoted!!!!!!!


I do wear a helmet I just don't like the way some of you want to cram helmet wearing down everyone’s throat. Why don't you re-read what I wrote. I am not trying to justify my decisions to wear a helmet??????

Statistically there are a lot of injuries while un-mounted so my point was that all these helmet mongers probably don't wear helmets while handling their horses so if they really want to stand by their word they should wear a helmet before entering the barn!

Why would I bring smoking into this there are plenty of people that still smoke even knowing the risks?

As you I didn't ride with a helmet but started to as I became an adult. Seems we experienced the same things only you became a bit self righteous. You are the one drawing to your own conclusions.

[mp]

MPS ... Sorry, I misunderstood you. I'm glad you wear a helmet. Really.

But I didn't misquote you. You said no one wore seatbelts in the 70s. And I can tell you they did. And the comment about smoking was simply to point out that what people did 30+ years ago is no justification for not knowing better now.

It's all about the risk one is willing to assume. You and I are not willing to assume as much as others, so we wear helmets. Good for us. Others don't. Not so good for them. And that's all I'll say for politeness (and DMK's) sake).

[Invested1]

One of my favorite expressions is that people are "victims of our own decisions." If you ride without a helmet and take a nasty fall and wind up really hurt, well, the decision to not wear a helmet was yours and yours alone, and you must accept the consequences. Same with smokers developing lung cancer, or people getting ejected from cars because they didn't wear their seatbelts.
It's just hard to for me to feel sorry for someone when they determined a risk to be acceptable and then got hurt....

[bumknees]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by horseyfolks:
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 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yup if given a choice at those last 2 seconds I would still pass on a helmet. just as I aould pass on a seat belt ( read some of the stats and youd be suprised what they are not telling you). but then again I was taught how to fall properly and in my case it wouldnt matter one way or another if I wore a helmet, hunt cap, or baseball cap I would still end up dead if I landed on my head.

[Bettie]

Yup if given a choice at those last 2 seconds I would still pass on a helmet. just as I aould pass on a seat belt ( read some of the stats and youd be suprised what they are not telling you). but then again I was taught how to fall properly and in my case it wouldnt matter one way or another if I wore a helmet, hunt cap, or baseball cap I would still end up dead if I landed on my head.[/QUOTE]


A helmet saved my noggin on the trail.I know of riders who would be dead or brain damaged without one.

do you really think you can compare a baseball cap with a helmet? I can't believe what I am reading... good luck to you. I sincerely hope you don't get hurt.

[Sandy M]

Boy, am I repeating myself, but I STILL would like to see a study comparing the head injuries/deaths among western riders to those in the english disciplines. So few western riders wear helmets (and kudos to the NFR barrel racer who now wears one - because she particularly wanted to be a good example for her children), and yet I can't say that I've seen or heard of MORE of them suffering serious head injuries. Now, granted, they aren't jumping - but most advocates of "every time/every ride" for helmets mean it for everyone - whether on a dead broke schoolmaster or a green colt. And certainly cutting, barrel racing and reining could be considered as "perilous" as jumping -they are working at speed, even if they don't get as far off the ground!

(Personally - I wear one ALMOST all the time. Always on the trail, always when jumping, always when on a strange horse, always when in a new place, always when it's a cold, windy day- even though my horse is "broke to death," but I will sometimes go without when schooling at home, on the flat.)

[greysandbays]

Why do helmet nazis think everybody is as scairt of horses as they are???

I use the following example to illustrate a point:

Say there is a million dollar prize for walking across a 4" wide plank, 20' long, suspended 100' above the earth with no safety net and no safety harness.

Contestant #1 is a overweight, non-athletic middle-age woman who is afraid of heights. She backs out because it's way too dangerous and she's sure she's gonna die if she tries it.

Contestant #2 is a circus performer who has worked on the highwire since she was a child. She laughs, hops out on the plank, does a few flips and handstands on the way to the far side and thinks "Dang, this is the easiest money I ever made".

The plank is the same for both. The "splat" at the bottom will be the same for either, should they fall. But, based on their life experience, the prospect of walking across that plank scares one person shitless, and is child's play to the other.

[HorseProtectionLeague]

'Scairt' of horses? Moi? Au contraire, mon ami, I have been dubbed "Sponge Bob Glue Pants" at one barn because I get on- and stay on- all the colts everyone else gives up on! However, I do wear my helmet every time I ride a young colt, jump, school my own horses, ride a rescue horse... the list goes on. The only time I skip the 'wuss hat' as the cowboy types call it is when I am trail guiding, and that is because the boss says I'm not supposed to look like an English snob when dude punching...

If there is any 'scairt' of horses in me, I dare ya to find it. However, I have no idea what your tightrope example is supposed to mean to me. If someone offered me $1,000,000 to ride a green colt with no helmet through a herd of buffalo, I'd do it- but that doesn't mean I don't wear a helmet or recommend that other people do. I don't get on anyone's case for NOT wearing a helmet, but I do recommend it to anyone who asks my opinion, and I do make sure the little girls schooling ponies at the rescue are always wearing helmets- it is a liability issue as well as the fact that I like the little girls and would hate to see the insides of their skulls.