Following on from 'wearing/not wearing' hats posts....

M

mickey

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 November 2005
Messages
5,169
Location
Kent
Visit site
My question is WHY do people choose not to wear a hat???
What are their thoughts/reasoning when making that choice??? I am genuinely interested to know why some people seem to find it so inconvenient......??????
frown.gif
 
Do you wear a body protector when you jump? 99% of the time I never wear one but do when its enforced. I take that decision when I jump that yes I could be injured but if I thought like that I would not ride. I take the same decision with a hat. Only 15 years ago my mother never wore a hat and you see pictures of people SJ over 1.60m without any chinstraps. I get really fed up with health and safety nazis dictating what is correct and what is incorrect. I make the decisions and as far as I am aware my decision to wear a hat is just that mine. In fact the whole thing with being told what is correct and incorrect with horses really annoys me.
 
My friend prefers not to wear a hat as she finds them hot and uncomfortable. I would prefer to be able to feel my head hot and uncomfortable, than to not have a head at all. I have always found though, although a hat may be slightly uncomfortable at first when I buy a new one, they become like a second skin and it is second nature to put one on. I cannot imagine not wearing one, it's just part and parcel of riding for me!
 
I have ridden without a hat on numerous occasions, yes i agree that is very unsafe to ride without one, and the times that i have done it is because of the fact that i have left hat at home, or im at a friends and there hat doesn't fit, so i don't really see the difference between wearing a hat that doesn't fit and not wearing one at all.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My question is WHY do people choose not to wear a hat?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's it. Because I choose not to. Quite simply it's my choice.
 
Its the persons head so its their choice whether they want to increase the risks of damaging their bonce IMO.

I always wear a hat, the one and only time I didn't (riding horses bareback to field) they got spooked and bolted and I fell off and I can tell you IT HURT and I never did it again!

Also my hat saved my life in a serious riding accident when I was a teenager, so even though my hat makes my head hot and sweaty and uncomfortable, you won't catch me on a horse without it.
 
its a personal choice, some people choose not to for comfort (particually when its steaming hot in summer), some (sadly) for the look of it, others simply because they dont feel the situation warrents one.

in the same way that some people choose not to wear a BP for jumping or hunting etc
 
probably because they don't want to upset their designer hair style

I accept that my hair will get stuffed wearing a hat but view it as just part of the sport

You cannot ride a motorbike without a crash helmet, nor compete in cycling races without so why should horseriding be any different
 
PMSL, I certainly do not have a designer hair style, in fact mine is lucky to have a brush dragged through it every other day
grin.gif


I don't wear a hat when I choose not to wear one - in the school, schooling, hot days, etc. My head, my choice, must say since being in this country I wear a hat 99% of the time if not more, in Spain I wore a hat if I was competing or jumping big fences and that was it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
PMSL, I certainly do not have a designer hair style, in fact mine is lucky to have a brush dragged through it every other day

[/ QUOTE ]

LMAO!!! I was about to say exactly the same thing
grin.gif
. If unbrushed pony tails are designer, then I am the height of fashion LOL!! How silly.
 
I am genuinely interested into WHY people make the choice to be hatless.

Most decisions in life take some thought, either that or they are automatic actions. So, potentially you have people that just don't consider wearing a hat (maybe they never wear a hat and have not for so long they don't think about it anymore) and those that think before making the choice.

I am interested in the thoughts that lie behind people making that choice. It is a free country and people do have the choice, but it is what lies behind the action (or lack of action) that interests me....
 
Well it certainly isn't vanity or thinking I am *up myself* or such a good rider I will never come off, I am not that stupid! It really is a comfort/heat thing for me, especially when schooling. I can be distracted by the tiniest thing that will make me work at 50% instead of 100% so if it is a hot day and I am sweating the last thing I want on my head is a hat. It is certainly far more of a conscious decision to take it off than it is to put it on, whereas before it was completely reversed. It helps that it is cold over here as I have gotten into the habit of wearing it to keep warm in the winter - seriously!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Most decisions in life take some thought, either that or they are automatic actions. So, potentially you have people that just don't consider wearing a hat (maybe they never wear a hat and have not for so long they don't think about it anymore) and those that think before making the choice.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have answered your own question, I think alot of it is automatic actions, to me I collect my hat with the tack and put it on after i've tacked up - its automatic, in the same way someone who chooses not to, just doesn't think about collecting their hat with their tack and after a long time they no longer think about it.
 
I wear a hat because I would rather increase the chance that I will see my daughter grow up. I make her wear a hat because I couldn't live with myself if she was injured/killed as a result of not.

What everyone else does is up to them.
 
I actually KNOW people who won't wear hats because of their hairstyle and if they do wear a hat 'fret' that their hair will look a 'mess' when they've finished riding

I also think - we've got two of a lot of body parts - eyes, ears, kidneys, legs, arms, liver can manage with only about 20% working

BUT - we ONLY have ONE brain and ONE head

I also come back to something I said earlier - if we come off and prang our heads how many people have made proper provision for thier horses (and other animals) in their wills ?!?!?!?!?!
 
The only time I ever think about my choice not to wear a hat....is when one of these posts on here comes up. In real life? Well I don't even think about it, I just go out and catch a horse and off I go.

It's pretty much the same as when I am going around the farm in my tractor or truck; it would never occur to me to put a seatbelt on, I just jump in and go and do what I have to do.

I wear a seatbelt on the open road as it is Law, if wearing hats whilst on public roads was Law then I likely still wouldn't wear one as I never go on public roads....if I was ever in the unfortunate position of having to go on public roads then I would abide by the Law.
 
[ QUOTE ]
how many people have made proper provision for thier horses (and other animals) in their wills

[/ QUOTE ]

Me. Most of my horses would be sold.
 
and me - but I know a lot of ostrichs that don't want to write their will and therefore the future of their animals is uncertain

can you imagine the non-animal-loving executor - he'd just send the things to any old auction.....
 
[ QUOTE ]
I wear a hat because I would rather increase the chance that I will see my daughter grow up. I make her wear a hat because I couldn't live with myself if she was injured/killed as a result of not.

[/ QUOTE ] My approach is similar to yours, Horseymum. As I participate in what is a relatively dangerous sport, I feel it is my duty towards my daughter to take lessen the risks by wearing a proper hat when I ride, particularly as I often hack out with her.
 
I have, only covers my horses, it gives my best friend and family the power to sell them all except certain ones and the proceeds from the sales are to be used for my friend and my family to look after the ones that aren't to be sold, in return for doing this my friend can pick one of the horses for herself.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The only time I ever think about my choice not to wear a hat....is when one of these posts on here comes up.

[/ QUOTE ]
I was just thinking similar, only I was thinking the only time I think about wearing my hat is when one of these posts comes up, its so automatic for me to put it on that I don't even think about it...the same as its automatic for you not too.

Its freedom of choice, its up to the individual to whether they do or they don't.
 
sounds very similar to what I've done
certain aged/problem ones to be putdown and a couple sold but the proceeds used to maintain the rest

I do feel so sorry when I've been to rehoming centers to find animals of all sorts there due to their owners dying and making no provision. I'm sure that the owners that loved their animals in life would prefer to know their future was assured in death

I'd rather some of mine were 'safely' put down that sold on (and on and on potentially) to an uncertain future.

I regard wearing a hat to ride as one 'precaution' I can easily and painlessly take to prolong my life to ensure that my animals have my care for as long as possible

My animals are the only things that make me want to get up in the morning anyway !!
 
I once absent mindedly forgot my hat & was riding for a few minutes before I realised what was 'wrong' & as soon as I realised, my skull felt like an eggshell, so vulnerable.

I forgot another time & was 1/2 way up the field before I remembered, & nearly didn't bother getting it cos my hair was up & I couldn't be bothered rearranging it & I didn't want to traipse back down the field & get off again etc. Anyway, I went & got it & carried on. I was jumping that day (on grass) & towards the end of the session the horse slipped, nearly fell & hurled me into the ground with enough force to crack my hat. I had a bit of a headache for an hour or two, but that was soooo nearly my bare head...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top