Dr riders wearing protective hats...

Prince33Sp4rkle said:
how many of you have had a horse randomley trip to the point of firing you in to the fence please, whilst on the flat,not jumping?(an otherwise well behaved horse not one looping the loop)
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Trotting in the warm-up arena at a show a few years ago, on a 9yo, surefooted and careful Native pony - the sort who can canter downhill on slippery ground, prop and turn without the slightest hint of a slip. We simply trotted round the corner, and something happened - who knows what (place was flat as a pancake) - she tripped and fell. Sweetheart that she is, she twisted as she was going down to throw me clear. I had concussion that lasted several days, and a very creaky (and obviously broken!) hat. This was off a 13.2hh! She'd never tripped before or since, totally freak accident.
 
I'm a showing person and we regularly have this discussion too! I must admit I did buy a beagler, wore it once and hated it so much I have sold it.
I show at County and Agri level and I always wear a CO H2000, I generally am either the only one with a strapped hat, or in a large class, there may be 2 or 3 of us :(
The "Pros" all wear Beaglers or Pateys, despite Katie Jerram's head injury 2 years ago and her subsequent article thanking her lucky stars she was at a show (Surrey County, I think?) which insists on strapped BSEN hats.
Funnily enough, at shows where the rules state you may not compete without a BSEN hat, all the other competitors discover their strapped hats and wear them , and guess what! - look just as good with them on as Beaglers and a whole lot better than they would on a ventilator.
Sadly - as the saying goes - You can lead a horse to water, but you can;t make it drink

Here's a gratuitous photo of me with my ugly hat on (oh - and I'm on a cob too !!:

MIDARCGallop3008100001.jpg
 
Hmm. My own perspective is that I was brought up to wear a hat, and put it on as a matter of course...but I have to confess that the hat in question has often been older or more banged-up than it ought to have been. Sometimes for years. I'm a sticky rider: before the Spooky Pony, I had fallen off a total of six times in my life, usually as a result of the horse falling over, and never hit my head. I once had my head smacked against a concrete wall by a horse I was tacking up, and I'm very lucky I happened to be wearing my hat then.

In the last 2 years, the Spooky Pony has managed to match that number of falls and then double it, never by falling over himself. Three of those falls have been on my head: two on the helmet, and one actually, for real, literally on my nose. (My nose is fine, thanks!) The first one, my hat made a horrible crunch, and the second one, my head rang like a bell. It would be a dumb idea to ride him without a hat. (Though I confess to not replacing the second hat as soon as I should have... :o )

Nevertheless, I understand PS's point of view. She is arguing (correct me if I am mistaken, PS! :) ) that outside of freak accidents, there is no statistical evidence showing any significant danger to an experienced rider schooling a sensible, well-schooled horse on a surface. Yes, freak accidents can happen to anyone, such as CKD. However, freak accidents can also happen on the ground, and just as many people on here can cite knowledge of equestrian freak accidents, I bet most of us can cite such accidents occurring during otherwise perfectly harmless activities. A guy I know slipped on some leaves and did his shoulder to a point where 6 months later, he requires surgery that might possibly be career-ending. Another guy I know slipped in the bathroom and sported a bandage on his head sometime after. Another guy broke his elbow in a ceilidh-related incident. I think what PS is saying is that she doesn't know of any evidence that suggests that not wearing a helmet in very specific circumstances is more inherently risky than walking down the street or going to a pub. As far as I know, none of the links provided show any analysis of the types of situations where the head injuries were sustained. I'd also be very interested in finding out if anyone has shown there to be a higher rate of head injury among a population of non-hatted dressage riders to a comparable group of hatted dressage riders.

Although I always wear a helmet to ride, I'm aware that sometimes our perceptions of what is acceptably safe behaviour is culturally predicated. I found it unbelievable, when moving to the UK, that so many people will tack up a horse in a stall, and that nobody cross-ties...I've relaxed somewhat on this issue, despite aforementioned concrete-wall-head-incident...
 
TGM said:
Going back to the Courtney King-Dye accident, does anyone actually know exactly what happened? Was it definitely on concrete? The press reports seem to mostly say that she was trying a horse for a client, asked it to move its haunches over and that it got its legs tangled and fell, which makes it sound like it was in a school. I must say I have seen a similar accident where a very placid, reliable horse was doing lateral work, got his legs tangled and fell, though fortunately the rider didn't hit his head and was wearing a hat anyway.
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I never heard it was on concrete. I heard she was schooling a horse for a client and on show grounds but NOT competing or warming up for competing, she asked it to move the haunches over at the canter, and it fell.


A similar think happened to me; I was trotting, asked my mare to move her haunches over, she tripped and fell on me. I was unhurt.


Just keep in mind helmets do not make one invincible. They don't help from a broken neck, for example. And neither does not wearing a helmet sign your death warrant every time you get on. Sure, it lessens the chance of some head injuries. CKD could still have had a TBI with a helmet, because of the whiplash. Would it have been less with a helmet? Maybe.
 
spookypony said:
Nevertheless, I understand PS's point of view. She is arguing (correct me if I am mistaken, PS! :) ) that outside of freak accidents, there is no statistical evidence showing any significant danger to an experienced rider schooling a sensible, well-schooled horse on a surface. Yes, freak accidents can happen to anyone, such as CKD. However, freak accidents can also happen on the ground, and just as many people on here can cite knowledge of equestrian freak accidents, I bet most of us can cite such accidents occurring during otherwise perfectly harmless activities. I think what PS is saying is that she doesn't know of any evidence that suggests that not wearing a helmet in very specific circumstances is more inherently risky than walking down the street or going to a pub. As far as I know, none of the links provided show any analysis of the types of situations where the head injuries were sustained. I'd also be very interested in finding out if anyone has shown there to be a higher rate of head injury among a population of non-hatted dressage riders to a comparable group of hatted dressage riders.
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Yes, I think this is a very good point and it would be very useful to have a proper assessment of the relative risk of different riding activities by different level riders on different types/ages of horses. It may turn out that under some circumstances riding without a hat is safer than crossing the road - something we all do all the time, without second thought!

However, there are two possible qualifications that partly negate this argument:
1. Identifying these circumstances may prove to be quite difficult, especially given the number of diverse and potentially changing variables involved.
2. Assessment of the risk should always involve an assessment of the cost of risk avoidance strategies. For example, driving at 30mph on a motorway would probably avoid the majority of fatalities we now have on motorways, but would seriously delay us in getting from A to B with resultant repercussions for our lifestyles, jobs, etc. so the cost of risk avoidance is considered too great in comparison to the risk. It strikes me that, aside from very rare cases of people with hat related head problems, for most of us the cost of wearing a hat is fairly negligeable. This tells in favour of wearing a hat even when it's not necessary.

Just to say, NONE of this is intended as applying to any one person on this thread or otherwise, you know me, I just like a good discussion! I still believe that people should have free choice in this matter, I just like discussion what the best choice might be! :)
 
Booboos said:
It strikes me that, aside from very rare cases of people with hat related head problems, for most of us the cost of wearing a hat is fairly negligeable.
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I think this is a key point. The head is such a vulnerable area of the body, damage to it can have catastrophic results, and yet it is pretty simple to give it protection by wearing a hat which doesn't take two seconds to put on, and doesn't restrict you or impact on your riding in any way. The only drawback to wearing a hat seems to be the dreaded 'hat hair' but personally I won't let vanity stop me wearing one!
 
quirky said:
Just the thought of my Mother/OH/Whoever having to wipe my backside and change my tampons is reason enough to wear a hat :).
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OMG, i'd thought about having to have my bum wiped, that'd be awful beyond words, but jeezus, that's last bit just utterly horrified me. ugh. yeuk.

i'd heard that Courtney's fall was on a surface too fwiw, doing a bit of lateral work. i don't think she'd have been doing that on cement or concrete...
it says here that she was schooling the horse. nice pic btw... :) :) :) gladdens my heart.
http://www.dressage-news.com/?p=5307
btw, i didn't start this thread to preach, but because i think it's interesting to see how good a helmet and tails looks. riders eventually get used to the look of a new product. i remember when i was just about the only one wearing a crash hat for hunting, now a lot of people do. my mother just wouldn't let me go without one...
nothing else to add really, other than that anyone who thinks ANY horse is 100% predictable is, i'm sorry to say, an utter nutter. ;) ;) i'm pretty sticky, and pretty experienced, and i certainly don't wobble off for no reason, but i got decked so fast last time (by a horse who hadn't ever bucked or anything with a rider on) my last thought was 'i'm still in the middle, i'm fine' - then i was on the floor. then on the way to hospital...
crikey, i can't even predict what i'm going to do next myself sometimes, let alone 1/2 a tonne of cowardly flight animal being sat on by a predator and taught to do ballet... ;) ;)
 
JNB - I have also shown at county level (on my cob :D ) but i was told everyone HAD to wear a harnessed hat. This was a while ago, probably around 7yrs ago actually, and i was in the collecting ring in my beagler and someone came up to me and said i had to change my hat to a harnessed one as beaglers werent allowed?? Luckily i had a harnesed one the same as yours in my lorry so made a quick dash and swapped it over. I was doing MW Hunter class at the Bath and West at the time.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
how many of you have had a horse randomley trip to the point of firing you in to the fence please, whilst on the flat,not jumping?(an otherwise well behaved horse not one looping the loop)
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I have, actually. Not into the fence, but I did land on my head. My boy (who, in the 7 years I had him, was as sure footed as anything), tripped while trotting round the arena, and fell right over, firing me out the side door. Had he tripped the other way, I would have been in the fence. He had never done it before, and never did it again.

And, if I'm honest, I'm a pretty sticky rider myself, I'm not fantastic but it takes a lot to get me out of the saddle. I've fallen off doing flatwork on my own horse a total of 3 times in years, I knew him inside out and couldn't have predicted any of them.
 
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TGM said:
I think this is a key point. The head is such a vulnerable area of the body, damage to it can have catastrophic results, and yet it is pretty simple to give it protection by wearing a hat which doesn't take two seconds to put on, and doesn't restrict you or impact on your riding in any way. The only drawback to wearing a hat seems to be the dreaded 'hat hair' but personally I won't let vanity stop me wearing one!
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and yet loads of the no hat brigade wear anky bands or such like so are still going to suffer hat hear anyway
 
Paladine said:
Just keep in mind helmets do not make one invincible. They don't help from a broken neck, for example. And neither does not wearing a helmet sign your death warrant every time you get on. Sure, it lessens the chance of some head injuries. CKD could still have had a TBI with a helmet, because of the whiplash. Would it have been less with a helmet? Maybe.
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Absolutely to the first point. Actually, the last time I schooled without a hat (yonks ago, boiling hot day, very trustworthy homebred) I noticed that I was slightly more passive in my attitude, I do wonder whether knowing that one is more vulnerable makes one ask things slightly more passively... whether having a hat on does encourage the 'i'm invincible, i can push/ask this horse for more and more' attitude. i really don't know.

CKD fractured her skull. surely it's safe to say that a helmeted head is protected from such injuries far more than an unhelmeted head...? i don't think "Maybe" gets in there, really... ;) ;)
 
kerilli said:
OMG, i'd thought about having to have my bum wiped, that'd be awful beyond words, but jeezus, that's last bit just utterly horrified me. ugh. yeuk.
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Luckily the neuro rehab unit I work on, they can all manage that bit themselves, BUT, they are the lucky ones.

By lucky I mean, they *only* have problems with memory, coordination, mobility, lowered tolerance levels, disturbed sleep/waking patterns, I could continue that list.

The unlucky ones end up in PVS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistent_vegetative_state
 
Girl at last yard had this happen (she was into 'classical'). Luckly (?) for her her chest took the brunt of the force of landing on the p&r fence, so she broke her ribs rather than her head. Now wears a hat, but refuses to wear hi-viz hacking on a main road. Some people can only learn the painful way.
 
I had a horse randomly fall over on a surface! we were schooling in trot and he just fell over! I lay on my side watching him stand up thinking - ow my foot hurts!

Ok so not my head but still, he randomly fell and I ended up in a plaster and on crutches.
 
kerilli said:
Absolutely to the first point. Actually, the last time I schooled without a hat (yonks ago, boiling hot day, very trustworthy homebred) I noticed that I was slightly more passive in my attitude, I do wonder whether knowing that one is more vulnerable makes one ask things slightly more passively... whether having a hat on does encourage the 'i'm invincible, i can push/ask this horse for more and more' attitude. i really don't know.

CKD fractured her skull. surely it's safe to say that a helmeted head is protected from such injuries far more than an unhelmeted head...? i don't think "Maybe" gets in there, really... ;) ;)
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This is interesting, I actually feel the opposite way -- I've always been more confident and ridden better without a helmet! I guess that after years of thinking that helmets are for dangerous horses or situations only, my brain has been conditioned to equate helmet-wearing with "increased risk"! It doesn't matter, I am sure as years go by I will get more and more used to it. And I've become so protective of my little brain, that I'd rather ride a little worse but safeguard my head than the other way round!

As for Courtney's accident, I clearly was mistaken -- I am sure I had read (very early on, when it had just happened) that she wasn't doing anything, just walking just outside the arena, but of course I might have misread or the source could have been unreliable, I can't even remember where I read it.

And as for horses falling over without reason: Rauti actually did it too!! He was 7 and my trainer was riding him, schooling trot extensions.....at the end of one diagonal, just before the corner, he lost his balance for some reason and fell over breaking my trainer's ankle :(
 
I fell off and landed on my head in a completley unexpected event- remember its not always a nutter horse that will cause you to fall off!

i passed out mid air over a jump! landed on my head and woke up unable to move any part of my body, scariest thing ive ever done.

its not worth the risk :( i got away with concussion
 
I've already pointed out that I've had a horse randomly fall over whilst I was riding. Didn't hit the fence as we weren't near it. The last thing I knew we were halted talking to my instructor, the next I was on the floor, and so was the horse. That was a riding school horse!

I have seen another horse fall over for no apparent reason, a nice safe cob that is privately owned. On minute his sharer was trotting him round the indoor school (well maintained used for BD/BS/BSPS BHS exams etc. The next minute the horse was doing a forward roll, he seemed to just forget what to do with his front legs. Rider broke her boot but not her head.

DH has also had a steady suitable for novices horse fall over whilst riding on the flat, on a surface, but a different surface from the previous ones.

As I also mentioned above I've heard of more than one case where horses have collapsed with their rider on board.
 
certainly more horses dropping for no reason than i thought, that i will admit.

its not so much the fact that people dont like it/dont agree with it etc, its the way in which people put their view across. i can agree to disagree but take exception to the name calling.

anyone who smokes, drink, sunbathes or is overweight through overeating,is taking as much of a calculated risk, if not more,and is putting as much of an alleged strain on the NHS.i can only imagine how well calling a larger person stupid would go down!

ill ask again -where does it end? law to wear hats whilst clipping?loading?turning out?bringing in?grooming? have seen/heard about far more accidents/injuries caused by the first two than by hatless flatowork, and i refuse to believe that every single person on this thread wears a hat for clipping and loading!
 
I read this thread again with interest. To PS, I noted your comments last night, went off to get a large g and t and do some work I had brought home. However, I am not given to being retaliatory and nasty, life is far too short, but please dont pass judgements on situations you were not witness to. For a start, I personally hate hat hair. I have short, curly and very dry hair which I use lots of mouse and spray on - my hat makes it all hard and sweaty and I have to wash my hair every day I ride - which is 4-5 times a week. Washing my hair practically every day makes it dry and uncontrollable, but thats life. However, I would much rather pay this price than the price my family would pay in looking after me in a vegetative state after a hatless accident, and even the hassle that my poor old business partner would have after something like that happening to me.

Believe it or not, we do care, in fact most of us do on here. Also, I dont particularily want to justify myself, but I dont compete any longer, ride an older horse I have owned for years, and spend all my money on lessons on Mini TX who events. I also work 60 plus hours a work in a very demanding job, plus work from home, I sometimes find it hard to find the time to ride my own horse, so where on earth I would find the time to ride others, goodness knows. My daughter witnessed what happened, she is a very, very good rider, and even she said she would not have stayed on as my horse practically turned himself inside out. We are talking about a sane 18 year old cob here, who I know very well. Totally out of character - his normal reaction to things sound pretty much like Bruce - a raised eyebrow and thats it. Taking it one step further, she was dumped last night from our youngster, who reared constantly because she didnt want to work, and who threw her toys well and truly out of her pram. My daughter has a very sticky bum but even she ended up in the sand, thankfully she was fine, and a very naughty young horse was put to bed.

Actually, I am not angry, I have far too many other things to worry about. I just find the hatless brigade and their reasoning a little bit baffling. Horses are unpredictable, why not just protect yourself and your family and loved ones against the unforseen - put your hats on, it only takes a couple of seconds.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
certainly more horses dropping for no reason than i thought, that i will admit.

its not so much the fact that people dont like it/dont agree with it etc, its the way in which people put their view across. i can agree to disagree but take exception to the name calling.

anyone who smokes, drink, sunbathes or is overweight through overeating,is taking as much of a calculated risk, if not more,and is putting as much of an alleged strain on the NHS.i can only imagine how well calling a larger person stupid would go down!

ill ask again -where does it end? law to wear hats whilst clipping?loading?turning out?bringing in?grooming? have seen/heard about far more accidents/injuries caused by the first two than by hatless flatowork, and i refuse to believe that every single person on this thread wears a hat for clipping and loading!
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Well a larger person may be larger through illness/injury/medication.
By drinking responsibly, I'm not going to smash my skull open.
Wearing hats for clipping and loading is a sensible precaution, surely? I've always worn a hat for loading, and now wear one for turning out aswell.
 
It seems logical that there is more risk involved in galloping & jumping & less risk involved in flatwork. If you are doing flatwork hatless in a controlled environment on a steady horse you may well statistically be safer than if you are going XC with all the safety gear.

I think though that anecdotally, and I suspect in reality, terrible accidents seem to happen when you least expect them. You will probably go down like a stone and get kicked in the hear when teaching a steady RS cob turn on the forehand and it stumbles (happened to a friend of mine she owned the RS and hunted & evented). Many falls IME are stupid, and often have little relevance to riding ability.

Another incident I heard of involved an experienced rider returning to her vehicle after jumping a round and undoing her hat before she dismounted. She was dropped on the bonnet of her father's car after a loose horse spooked hers, which was standing still at the time.

I don't have strong views on whether other people wear hats. I wear one at all times, and often when handling. I insist on everyone in my family & on the yard doing the same and get irate when I see people putting children on just for a minute hatless. It always amazes me on the continent when I see children riding and doing things like vaulting, hatless (in plimpsolls & leotards!!!) It does sadden me though that professional riders set such a bad example. If you don't want your hair getting sweaty & to be fragrant & well groomed at all times, then really I wonder whether riding is the best sport for you.
 
:masiveamountofswearwords: i said "overweight through OVEREATING!!!!! stop twisting things!

do you wear a hat for clipping then?

TX-i am simply trying to point out that you yourself said you are not as agile in the saddle as you were/could be , if training more often. and that i train more,and ride more, and thus am probably a lot more likely to stay on.i didnt say you SHOULD train more, or should do anything different, just pointed out that your situation is in no way comparable to mine, so perhaps you should not pass judgement on me either?
if i was going to get on something known to rear constantly id have a hat on too! i dont know how many times i have to say im making an assesment of risk based on THAT horse on THAT day, and dont adopt a *blanket policy to NEVER wear a hat*.im getting almightly fed up of things being twisted to suit or people making unrealistic comparisons.

please dont get angry because iv picked holes in your theory(pardon the pun) thats the point of a debate surely?
 
Last year I bought a beagler from Hickstead, it's very beautiful and fits me perfectly. The next day I wore it to ride in and hate to say I felt very vulnerable wearing it. I was convinced it was going to fall off and I was very aware that if I did come off and hit my head it wasn't going to do much good.
I have a lovely Champion hat with a flesh harness for competitions and I take that and the beagler with me but always end up wearing the Champion.

I quite often used to ride hatless when I was younger, even on the road but to be honest I was an arrogant bitch who was so up my own arse I was convinced that I would never come off as I was such an amazing rider!
Someone stopped me on the road once and asked me why I wasn't wearing a hat, it turned out he was an ex showjumper (now a lorry driver) who had come off a very safe horse in a freak accident and he wasn't wearing a hat. He had very serious head injuries and was in a coma for 3 weeks. He had to learn to do everything all over again and in the meantime lost his yard and horses, and had to give up showjumping.
 
Not going to comment on anyone else or their opinions. I have ridden hatless in the past, but stopped aged 19 when my best friend at the time's little sister had an accident. She was on a her PC open dressage teams, been to many championships, on a seriously reliable safe schoolmaster who had competed adv med, she was having a lesson in a beautiful school, working on laterals. Horse stumbled, couldn't right herself and went down. They still don't know why/how. Rider Thought she had rolled clear but horse was attemting to get up and caught back of riders head with a hoof. She spent 10 days in ICU and has tbh never been quite the same. She was wearing a hat which was dented by the impact of the hoof.
Since then I have never ridden without a hat.
People do on our yard but tbh I don't really interject - itstheir parents/families/oh that would have to pick up the pieces. Madness tho as our school is not brilliant surface-wise.
One more thing working in H&S, it's all about risk control. Often can't eliminiate risk totally but try to control as far as reasonably practicable. Hence why for example cars have seat belts, rally cars harnesses etc.
With the modern day popularity of compensation culture I wonder if/when a top rider will be sued if a student/pupil comes off and injures their head - if said instructor hasn't insisted on a hat?
 
I always wear a hat and always have done. Its the norm for me now to wear one and i would have to go out of my way to forget otherwise.

2bh I am a bit of a hypocondriact, (espeically after watching such sad films like "a little piece of heaven" soooo sad! though nothing to do with horse riding) and i would prefer not to end up in hospital!
I know that doing flat work is less likely to get in danger, the risks are significantly less but one day I was on a ISH who was 5 at the time I think and he was the most laziest horse! never spooked as it was too much energy, just liked to plod round qhile i was continually kicking him! one day someone else was riding in the school one person was lunging. this other horse got tangled in the lung line and my mr dope decided this was the moment to take off! he bolted round the arena, did an enormous buck and i ended up flying into the fencing and then, when i had landed on the floor, the horse decided it would stand on my knee as cantering away. - this could have so easily been my head or i could have hit my head on the fencing! I have also come off twice more into school fencing. because as horse spooks violently i always try my hardest to stay on and then horse usually swings itself into the fence. Nice!
anyway, im a pretty laid back person and 2bh if it stops me worrying and my mum worrying about me coming off, the it doesnt really hurt me to wear one. maybe a little hat hair is all but my hairs is so fluffy and frizzy anyway, it needs a bit of flattening :P and i love my champion grand prix hat- it is sooooo light i forget im wearing it and has air vents to help cool my head even though you cant even see the air vents from the outside, how cool is that!
Fairplay, i will be soooo annoyed if it becomes the law to ride in a body protector, just because these are so uncomfortable and really effect your riding as makes you stiff so you sit funny.

oh and after reading all your horrific accidents i really dont know why i ride any more :P im pretty sure horse riding is the most dangerous sport.
 
Not going to comment on anyone else or their opinions. I have ridden hatless in the past, but stopped aged 19 when my best friend at the time's little sister had an accident. She was on a her PC open dressage teams, been to many championships, on a seriously reliable safe schoolmaster who had competed adv med, she was having a lesson in a beautiful school, working on laterals. Horse stumbled, couldn't right herself and went down. They still don't know why/how. Rider Thought she had rolled clear but horse was attemting to get up and caught back of riders head with a hoof. She spent 10 days in ICU and has tbh never been quite the same. She was wearing a hat which was dented by the impact of the hoof.
Since then I have never ridden without a hat.
People do on our yard but tbh I don't really interject - itstheir parents/families/oh that would have to pick up the pieces. Madness tho as our school is not brilliant surface-wise.
One more thing working in H&S, it's all about risk control. Often can't eliminiate risk totally but try to control as far as reasonably practicable. Hence why for example cars have seat belts, rally cars harnesses etc.
With the modern day popularity of compensation culture I wonder if/when a top rider will be sued if a student/pupil comes off and injures their head - if said instructor hasn't insisted on a hat?
 
Seahorse said:
Someone stopped me on the road once and asked me why I wasn't wearing a hat, it turned out he was an ex showjumper (now a lorry driver) who had come off a very safe horse in a freak accident and he wasn't wearing a hat. He had very serious head injuries and was in a coma for 3 weeks. He had to learn to do everything all over again and in the meantime lost his yard and horses, and had to give up showjumping.
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I hacked one out once, and totally forgot to put my hat on, realised and thought 'oh, stuff it, it's a safe horse'. Later my mum was accosted by a brain surgeon who lived in one of the houses i'd hacked past, who begged her to beg me NEVER to ride out on the roads hatless again, as he has to see and work on the consequences of such things daily. he was really upset about seeing me so stupidly vulnerable.
i've got on hatless before, gone 20 yards, realised i can feel the wind in my hair (oops) and gotten straight off and gone back for a hat... i did this a few weeks ago actually, got on with fleecy hat on, oops.

btw, yes, i always put a hat on to clip now. had too many friends booted while clipping, one badly, in the head.
i put on a hat to load a youngster or an unknown horse, not a mature easy loader, i must admit.

as to horses just dropping... hmm. i know two people who've had horses drop under them from a heart attack, one was hacking at walk up the lane. i've had a horse stumble badly enough (on a good surface) to send me straight over his shoulder. i've had one somehow fall over while cantering a 20m circle in dr warm up at a show...
daft things happen out of the blue. people get hospitalised every day from horses (just watch one of the Medical Emergency t.v. programmes, there seems to be a horse-related one every time!) and i very much doubt many of them saw it coming... some of them are seriously experienced horsemen and -women.
 
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