30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 10- Helmet or No Helmet?

30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 10-Helmet or No Helmet?

Well here we are at day number 10 in my 30-day blogging challenge! This is 10 days down, 20 more to go!  And the topic I am sharing today is likely to make some of you angry. The topic of helmet or no helmet is a very controversial topic. But before you get upset, this is my opinion, and like you, I am entitled to my own. By the time I am done with this challenge, you will all know so much more about me and my horses as well as my strengths, and my weaknesses. I wanted to offer a little more to you about myself, and thanks to me reading the incredible blog She Moved To Texas, I found her 30-day blogging challenge and decided to emulate what she had done.

Riding Helmet, Yes or No?

In the previous day of my blogging challenge I shared with you my worst fall. I was running barrels with my horse, the saddle slipped (my fault) and I fell off, and I hit the ground hard. I was not wearing a helmet. Helmets weren’t a requirement, and none of my friends wore one, so I didn’t either. That was when I was 16 years old.

Now what I didn’t share with you was that almost exactly one year later, I had a seizure. At that time, they called it a Grand-Mal seizure, but I have also heard it called a tonic-clonic seizure. I remember waking up in a hospital, my mother was standing over me wondering if I had been doing drugs with my friends the night before, I had not.

Lots of tests later, and a visit to a neurologist they had determined the reason for the seizure was because of my fall from my horse a year earlier.

That fall was most likely the cause of me to begin having seizures, and if I did not get enough sleep, drank any alcohol and had stress in my life, I would have a seizure. This sucked. I had to be seizure free for a complete year before I would be allowed to drive again.  I was put on horrible medication, Dilantin, and then Depakote. I couldn’t drink alcohol (ever), and I could never take a bath again unless I had someone with me. (Because if I had a seizure in the bath tub, I could drown.)

The decision I made to not wear a helmet while riding has effected and changed my life. This is why I always wear a helmet now. I was lucky. But there are others who aren’t so lucky. And let’s face it, riding horses puts us at a higher risk for injury than those who don’t ride. It’s a choice we make, and we also have a choice to wear a helmet to protect our brains.

Excuses Are Like Opinions, Everyone Has Them

Ultimately it is your decision to choose to wear a helmet or not, but I want to go over some excuses I have heard from people I know that choose to not wear a helmet while they ride their horses. And then also to debunk those excuses.

My Horse is Quiet

Any horse can go from quiet to wild mustang in 1.2 seconds. Unless you have a crystal ball, you will never know when an accident will happen. That’s why they call them accidents. Your life can be changed forever if you have a head injury from a fall. It isn’t worth the risk, believe me. Wear a helmet. Your horse can be bomb proof, and you can fall off, regardless of how good a rider you are.

Helmets Are too Hot, and I Get Helmet Hair

The manufactures have heard our plea, and now helmets have ventilation to help keep your head cool. And you get the added benefit of the visor to keep the sun out of your eyes. You can even buy (or make) a larger visor to attach to your helmet to keep the sun out of your eyes.

And helmet hair….I know it well. One way to get away from it is to use a fancy hair net. The no knot hairnet will keep your hair tucked out of the way while you ride, and makes helmet hair less of an issue when you take off your helmet.

Helmets Are Too Expensive

You can find a nice helmet for around $35.00. Isn’t your life worth $35.00?

I Ride Western, I Don’t need a Helmet

Although some people feel this way, the attitude towards helmets is changing, even in the western world. For example, the local horse club that holds horse shows every month that I go to encourages riders of all disciplines to wear a helmet for safety. And if you know anything about barrel racing, one of the icon role models of this sport, Fallon Taylor endorses helmets, and has created a line of helmet styles for barrel racers. Every year she has made it to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, she is always wearing a helmet. And there is a reason why she does, you can read about it here.

Helmet’s Are Not Cool

Actually helmets ARE cool. There are some great role models in the riding world to emulate and they wear helmets. If your favorite equestrian chooses not to wear a helmet, because they are too cool for one, maybe it’s time for a role model who promotes safety around horses. Find someone to look up to that promotes safety.  Helmet safety has become such a big deal that there is even a International Helmet Awareness Day, which is September 17^th every year.

Helmets Give A False Sense of Security

I know I am going to get some hate over this, but it’s my opinion, and this has bothered me for a while now, so I am going to talk about it.

I have seen this excuse on a lot of different YouTube videos. The YouTube creators’ states that if you wear a helmet, you think you are a better rider. Or, because someone wears a helmet, it gives them a false sense of security, and they think they are a better rider, and then take chances. Seriously? In my opinion, people who promote not wearing a helmet are not people who should be looked up too. By them promoting unsafe practices, they are promoting they don’t really care about the people who look up to them. There are two YouTubers that stand out about this topic, and I am calling them out on it. Raleigh Link, and Think Like a Horse. Raleigh, so many young riders look up to you and want to be like you, and yet you promote unsafe riding. You can make a difference Raleigh, and you should.

And the guy that runs the Channel Think Like a Horse, Rick Gore. He says wearing a helmet won’t save your life. He says a helmet won’t prevent back injuries and broken bones, and on that he is right. A helmet won’t protect your bones, other than your skull, which protects your brain.  He says the only people that want you to wear a helmet are the manufactures, so they get rich. In fact, he basically says if you need to wear a helmet, you aren’t a good rider. Really? Is this what someone who claims to be a trainer should promote?

They both say that if you wear a helmet you will think you are a better rider than you are, so that is why they don’t like helmets. They also both say that if you do fall and you are wearing a helmet, the helmet will cause more damage than if you weren’t wearing one. Really? So if your head is crushed by a 1200 pound animal you will be better off without something protecting your head? I disagree.

Ultimately it is your decision whether you wear a helmet or not. I probably feel so strongly about it because I have had a head injury caused from a fall and I was lucky. But there are those who have had a fall, and not been so lucky. And of course, you can still fall off even if you are wearing a helmet, but depending on the fall your outcome could be a lot different, including never riding again.

But I have a choice, and I choose safety, this is why I wear a helmet.