It’s International Helmet Day!

Story Time

Let’s start this blog off with a story. Once upon a time….no wait, this isn’t a fairy tale. This really happened, to me.

About 30 years ago, I was a western rider. I was also 16, so I thought I pretty much knew everything. I had an awesome horse that I would take all summer to the gymkhanas. We did all of the speed events and barrel racing was my favorite.

But at one of the shows, my cinch came loose and the saddle turned, and I fell off landing underneath my horse. He stepped on my thumb, and hit the back of my head with his hoof. He didn’t mean too, he was trying to avoid stepping on me, but in the shuffle of things, a ended up with a head injury. It didn’t seem that bad. I was more worried about my thumb, which had the skin ripped away and had a lot of dirt covering it.

I ended up in the emergency room, for my thumb, not my head. And sadly, that was the first horse show that my mom had ever come to watch me ride in. It was also the last, understandably so.

Fast forward a year, and I had just started beauty school. On one Friday night my boyfriend had a party, and we thought it would be cool to try boxed wine. It seemed really cool, but the wine didn’t taste very good so I only drank a little bit, not even a full glass full of wine.

After the party, I went home and went to bed. I was excited for my first day of giving manicures for my first customer experience in beauty school. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Because when I got up in the morning to go to beauty school, I had my first seizure. At the time, they called it a Grand Mal seizure. I woke up in the back of an ambulance and I had no idea of what had happened.

The same thing happened 3 more times. And each time, I woke up in the emergency room, or on my way to the emergency room. After that, I went to a neurologist to find out why this was happening. I was put on medication for seizures and that was that. Oh, and another thing that happens when you have seizures, you can’t drive. So I wasn’t allowed to drive, or get my driver’s license.

After a lot of tests, MRI scans, and diving into family history, the neurologist determined that the root of my seizures were probably related to the fall from my horse.

And I don’t know if I had a helmet on if that would have prevented the seizures, or not. But nowadays I am not taking that chance. So every time I ride my horses, I wear my helmet.

I Was Lucky

I was so very lucky. There are a lot of people who aren’t so lucky. And a lot of those people were professionals. They were very experienced and well trained riders. But they chose not to wear a helmet, and they died. A lot of riders make excuses of why they don’t like to wear a riding helmet.

But your horse doesn’t care about the reasons why you chose not to wear a helmet. He isn’t going to see if you have your helmet on before he spooks at bag as it blows across your arena. He isn’t going to check for your helmet before he panics and starts running, and then bucking. No, your horse isn’t going to stop being a horse because you don’t have a helmet on your head. It will just happen. Accidents happen all the time with horses. In fact the word horse and accident seem to go hand in hand.

Sorry, Not Sorry

And I won’t apologize for my opinion of safety. You have your opinion, and you’re entitled to it, just as I am entitled to mine. And I feel strongly that if you are riding a horse, no matter how experienced you are, you should be riding a helmet.

International Helmet Day

And there is even a weekend dedicated to helmet safety, and it happens to be this weekend. This year, International Helmet Awareness takes place August 18-19th. And this was all started when a very experienced equestrian sustained a head injury. The equestrian that was injured was Courtney King-Dye. She was an Olympic rider who had a serious head injury in March of 2010. She was in a coma for a month. Thankfully, she survived. And because of her brain injury, Riders4Helmets became a real thing. And today, 8 years after their movement was started now 25 countries, over 800 tack shops and 22 helmet brands participate. The goal is to promote the importance of wearing helmets for all equestrians. Regardless of the discipline they choose to ride.

And you can even see this on a local level. Parker Adventist Hospital, which is the closest hospital to where I live, they even offer fitting of riding helmets, and will provide them free to anyone who want one. This hospital is also the closest to the Colorado Horse Park, and they have the honor of having the highest number of head/brain traumas related to horses. This is probably why they give away helmets.

Hindsight is always 20/20

Let’s face it, working with horses is risky. Through no fault of their own, our horses are very large, and have a mind and will of their own. Because of this, when we choose to ride, we are putting ourselves at an increased risk of having a head injury. But by simply choosing to wear a helmet, you greatly decrease the risk of having a traumatic brain injury.

And after an accident happens is not the best time to consider wearing a helmet. But this is usually when we all choose to make a change. If you have never fallen from a horse, consider yourself extremely lucky. But why tempt fate? If you are a sensible person in all aspects of your life, why not continue that sensibility while you are riding your horse?

Once you start wearing a helmet, it becomes a habit. And after a while, you will not get on your horse without your helmet. And if you don’t like how it looks, just take a look at the stylish helmets that are available now. Today’s helmets look cool, and are cool, literally. With the advances that have been made in the last 10 years, riding helmets are stylish, and protective.

Confident Rider Challenge Day 18

And yes, I still have a challenge for you today, on this 18th day of our confident rider challenge. My challenge for you today is to at least consider wearing a helmet while you are riding your horse. If you are lucky enough to have a hospital that will give you a free one, why not? Or if you have to buy one, this is the perfect weekend to do it! With over 800 equestrian retailers offering fantastic deals on helmets, this would be a wonderful time to at least try wearing a helmet.

Chicks Saddlery had the best deal I could find at $19.99 for a Troxel Schooling Helmet. But even the fancier helmets are on sale this weekend too. My latest helmet is a One K Defender and Riding Warehouse has it on sale this weekend only for $191.96. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s a really pretty helmet!

I am very passionate about safety. It’s probably because I’m a mom, and also a nurse. And also because I have had a head injury. And if I can convince even one person to wear a helmet while they ride their horse, well then my public service announcement is worth it.