Hat or no hat? That is the question.....

I wear my hat when leading any pony, and even handling youngsters eg brushing , picking feet up etc . Mine are Exmoor ponies , and I've adopted this habit after being knocked to the ground & knocked out by one when taking her to the field 8 yrs ago . She was a yearling at the time and just being silly and generally jumping around due a hail storm .
The cut to my head wasn't too bad , but the concussion and resultant head injury left me with no sense of taste or smell .Ok , not serious but life changing to some small extent.
I was also dragged about and stood on whilst I was unconscious on the floor , I was off work for 5 weeks . I feel very lucky that my injuries were no worse .
It goes without saying that I always wear a hat when riding .
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
its called freedom of choice and being bought up in a different *culture*-i look at hats the way you probably look at body protectors, its for higher risk days only.
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Seriously? "Higher risk days", what are those? I haven't fallen off many times over the years but of the times I have done so the vast majority of those times has been during simple flatwork when a horse has spooked etc. I can't think of many times at all I've fallen off doing "high risk" show jumping or eventing (which I do very regularily)...

Sorry, but your head is your most important part. I'd absolutely wear one at all times, I think people who don't are nutcases.
 
cinammontoast said:
I cannot abide the people that say 'Oh, it's my life, my risk.' Idiots, frankly. What about the parents/friends etc that would grieve when putting on a hat takes all of 20 seconds?
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I wouldn't go as far as to call them idiots, I just dont think anyone can fully appreciate the reality of a head injury or the effects it can have on your extended family and friends until you have experienced it - and most people have the "it wont happen to me" attitude until it does happen to them.

I was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a serious head injury after being dragged 60' by a bolting horse and being left with a rather large hole in my head. I wasnt riding at the time, I was loading and I didnt have my hat on.

That was 3 years, 6 surgeries and a months and months of no riding ago - and I still have more surgery to get this year. Some people might have seen the article in Your Horse magazine this month. It has affected my parents, my children, my partner, my workmates, my confidence, the people who witnessed it (one girl was completely traumatised), its affected every area of my life and all the people around me. I can no longer ride to the level I could before my accident and I dont think I ever will again. I am also no longer the confident individual I was.

So to those who choose not to wear a hat, that is your choice, but its not the choice of the people around you who have to deal with the aftermath and trust me when I say if it doesnt kill you, it will most certainly take a large chunk of your life and completely destroy it - if you think thats worth the risk then so be it.
 
On our yard we wear the best hats you can get every time we ride. We also where hats when handling the young horses. It is just not worth the risk!! For what? To look cool? Please? I know its personal choice but it does set a bad example to younger riders if people don't wear hats and like many others have said what about the people around you if you have an accident. I just don't understand it!
 
Please be aware that insurance companies are very happy to take premiums, but not so happy to pay out large sums if they can get away with it. I can fully imagine a company trying not to pay out if the insured was riding without a hat. Not the sort of stress anyones family wants even if they get the money eventually. I am also pretty sure that many private health insurance policies would not cover the long term hopsital care of someone that will never regain consciness.

At the end of the day I don't actually care what someone else does. It not my business. It doesn't worry me when my friends ride without a hat. Its their choice. I just hope I never have to pick up the pieces if an accident happens when I am am around
 
It is not just the cost to the rider and their families and friends - what about the NHS and the massive amounts of money that have to be spent patching people up. My OH is a doctor and he has had to mop up the aftermath of riding accidents, both 'hatted' and 'hatless' so to speak. Most of the time people wearing hats were able to leave A&E after a couple of hours, with a list of head injury guidelines to follow, a couple of bruises and a good story to tell in the pub later. Those not wearing hats have usually had to be airlifted to a major head-injury hospital and spend at least a week (sometimes an awful lot longer), at tremendous expense to the tax payer. And that is before the physio, occupational therapy, psychotherapy and all the other services are involved.
Come on, that's not really fair is it?
Yes, it is your choice - but with that choice comes responsibility. Especially if you are benefitting from a world-class free health service.
 
No hat.... no horse...... no discussion.

Simplz!

I would never consider any other action tbh.

Oh yes, and I have scraped up someone's brains off the road. They wore a Patey or similar (it was a few years back) and those memories will stay with me forever.
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ife_and_Death/

A timely programme given the discussion and whilst it doesn't feature a patient who's come off a horse - the injuries, after-care and decisions having to be made by others are all valid.

FWIW - I'm all for freedom of choice and thoroughly understand that in hot climates it must be hell to ride in a hat etc. I don't care what people do and I'm not going to ram it down peoples' throats. But why do the 'anti-hat' brigade get so uppity when other people say 'well i always ride in a hat'. It's freedom of choice either way and if you're telling me that you're going to have a go just because someone on an internet forum says otherwise then I think you've got other issues to think about. It's only a forum, not like people are going to hunt you down the street with pitchforks are they?

I'll openly say that I'll happily wear a hat on the ground is needs be, entirely depends on what's on the end of the rope. And I'll always wear a hat on board. I also hack in yellows.
 
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Hmmm...i love this debate as much as the debates on spurs, drawer reins etc.

Now as a rule i do ride in a hat but have i ever ridden without one yes, have i ridden with no saddle/stirrups/bareback/in a headcollar yes.

I think i am perhaps more in the habit of wearing a hat then thinking about the consequences etc....i have worn flip flops around horses (at the moment regulary), never handle horses with a hat or gloves.

However, i have only ridden without a hat on a trustworthy horse - My current ride....i doubt i would ride without stirrups!

Its a matter of choice....i think for the debate to have any worth pro dressge riders will need to be forced to compete in them and since that is not going to happen anytime soon, think we should leave it there!
 
I would never get on a horse without a hat. I have on two occasions by accident - one at a riding school i was at the mounting block just about to put my foot in the stirrup and my instructor asked what i thought i was doing without a hat (and i was so embarrassed and i hope she didn't think i was planning on actually riding without one), the second time again was an accident, i was so nervous about the jumping i was about to do that i got on and someone asked me what i had forgotten (again i was mortified).

I have known someone who was in intensive care because a horse he was walking beside came down on his head. Luckily he survived and is leading a normal life. If he had been wearing a hat the accident wouldn't have been nearly as bad as it was. Personally i couldn't do that to myself or my family (because its not just yourself that has to deal with the reality of a head injury).

I watched that tv programme last night and found it really heartbreaking.
 
Saucisson said:
Noooooooo! Not the great hat debacle debate again! Let it lie down, slowly groan, roll over and die please! :eek:



This guy might be:

1/ A surgeon/anesthetist who may one day be responsible for treating your broken neck when you fell off your horse (whilst wearing your hat).
2/ A soldier who has just returned from dodging bullets in Afghanistan and doesn't quite have the same attitude to personal safety.
3/ Some random bloke who probably doesn't deserve being labeled as “stupid” just because he chose not to wear his hard hat.

This guy is not a surgeon, or an anesthetist, nor a soldier. He lives up the road and regularly rides down a busy road through the village, that large lorries thunder along, he is in the middle of the road on his barely controlled horse. He complained that our dog barked, once and made his horse spook violently, so that his baseball cap fell off and he was hanging over the side of his horse. Had he fallen off, it would have been onto a concrete farm track. Had he hit his head, I would have had to have dealt with it.

Fair? No.
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Sometimes, I have forgotten my hat.
On my own land, with my own horse, then yes, I will admit to being a complete [insert whitty insult here] and sometimes if i've forgotten said hat, I will ride without one.

I'm complete not defending riding without a hat at all. Infact, as a general rule to myself, I usually have a check list every morning before I leave the house.

It's just the rare occasion that I really am zombiefied until I get the yard and think "Oh...sh*t!" There's usually always one of the old hats anyway, but sometimes there isn't...
I'd say I probably ride, on average, once a month with no hat due to my lack of rememberence...probably not even a word but you know what I mean.

I would feel comfortable riding with no hat on a horse I knew very well, I have done frequently when I went through a phase a few years ago.

People usually say "You'll learn when you've hurt yourself!" I'd rather kick myself up the butt BEFORE that happens thank you.
 
Yes and there are also a lot more drivers. I wonder what the ratio of deaths to riders is, compared to the ratio of deaths to drivers!

However, the hat thing is personal choice - it's your own brains that you are putting at risk without wearing one, so up to you really.
 
Marsbar: you have missed the point that if you incur a head injury which could easily have been prevented by the use of a suitable hat, you use precious health service resources.
 
Hevs said:
I wouldn't go as far as to call them idiots, I just dont think anyone can fully appreciate the reality of a head injury or the effects it can have on your extended family and friends until you have experienced it - and most people have the "it wont happen to me" attitude until it does happen to them.

I was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a serious head injury after being dragged 60' by a bolting horse and being left with a rather large hole in my head. I wasnt riding at the time, I was loading and I didnt have my hat on.

That was 3 years, 6 surgeries and a months and months of no riding ago - and I still have more surgery to get this year. Some people might have seen the article in Your Horse magazine this month. It has affected my parents, my children, my partner, my workmates, my confidence, the people who witnessed it (one girl was completely traumatised), its affected every area of my life and all the people around me. I can no longer ride to the level I could before my accident and I dont think I ever will again. I am also no longer the confident individual I was.

So to those who choose not to wear a hat, that is your choice, but its not the choice of the people around you who have to deal with the aftermath and trust me when I say if it doesnt kill you, it will most certainly take a large chunk of your life and completely destroy it - if you think thats worth the risk then so be it.
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I'm one who has always, always worn a hat since my mother drummed it into me when I learned to ride, I also spent a large part of my life nursing so have seen the aftermath of head injury. Thank you for that post Hevs, it might just make someone else think twice before riding hatless. I wish you all the best for the future, I hope things continue to improve for you.
 
appylass said:
I'm one who has always, always worn a hat since my mother drummed it into me when I learned to ride, I also spent a large part of my life nursing so have seen the aftermath of head injury. Thank you for that post Hevs, it might just make someone else think twice before riding hatless. I wish you all the best for the future, I hope things continue to improve for you.
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Thank you appylass :) I consider myself extremely lucky, I had no brain injury, no cracked skull (mother says it was all that milk she fed me as a child lol) - I did have a hole in my scalp that you could clearly see my skull through which was not pretty. If my post makes even just one person stop and reconsider wearing a hat then its worth me talking about it.
 
SJFAN said:
Marsbar: you have missed the point that if you incur a head injury which could easily have been prevented by the use of a suitable hat, you use precious health service resources.
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The health service is also used by people who smoke and have lung issues or cancer. And obese people with heart problems. Both of those conditions can be prevented by either not smoking, or not over-eating. Should we prevent those people from using the health services available, or call them stupid or selfish or moronic, which is quite often what the hatless brigade are called during these "discussions".

I wear a hat through choice, but I do get a bit bored with people preaching about the alleged selfishness of those hatless types who may or may not have to call on the services of the NHS after falling off. It's a false argument, particularly when there are so many people using the health service who haven't even contributed to it eg. illegal immigrants! But that's a whole different topic......
 
I wear a hat because - when I was bought my first pony by my parents, they said if I ever rode without a hat they would sell her. And the same for wearing a seatbelt, if I didn't they would sell my car
I wear a hat because it's never occurred to me not to wear one. Also I work for the ambulance service and I'd look a bit of a tit if I fell off not wearing a hat, the grief from colleagues would be never ending
Also, riding without a hat isn't allowed on the yard
 
I fell off today, wind banged a metal door right in front of the horse, he freaked and we parted company, my head hit the ground twice with a bit of force. I was dizzy for 5 mins but ok.

If I didnt have my hat on id be in some serious trouble!


When I was young id ride without, but only in the field, never out and about. But now id always wear one.

Same with my bike leathers, I used to ride in trousers and a jumper! :eek: I bougth full leathers cause i got some money, that week I came off and have wolverine type rips across them, that would have been my skin! :eek:
 
I am not here to preach. I will tell you upfront that I always wear a hat. But for those who don't, I am curious to know why you make the conscious decision not to put one on?

You are all smart, experienced, horse people - you all know that horses can and do trip and fall, even if you are sure they will not spook. Is it a sort of superstition? Is it defying fate? It really can't just be to avoid hat hair, can it?

Is it in defiance of all those who DO wear hats and who you feel are telling you what you should or should not do?

As I said, to those that don't, I am not trying to tell you what to do or not to do, I am just interested to understand the psychology; the actual thought process, that goes on when you take the 'I'm not wearing a hat' route.
 
I know it can be tempting sometimes to not wear a hat, but please bear in mind that one of my worst riding accidents occurred whilst riding a very safe horse around an arena at walk. (eg, a very 'low risk' situation). He tripped, I don't know what over, the school surface must have been slightly uneven or maybe he just missed his footing who knows. All I can remember his him falling sideways with me still on him and then I blacked out as he rolled over the top of me, knocking me unconcious and crushing me.

Fortunately I was wearing a hat and there was someone else in the arena who saw the whole freak accident and was able to quickly get help. I was unconcious for only a few seconds but when I came round I was severely concussed, I couldn't see or co-ordinate at all. I was taken to hospital and took several hours to return to a normal state. Despite landing on a soft school surface some of my ribs were also fractured (hardly surprising after being rolled over by 500kg of horse)(prehaps I should have worn a body protector too?!) I was fine afterwards but am very glad I wore my hat that day (as indeed I do everytime I ride).

So please don't think that just because you are doing something basic like schooling or hacking a known safe horse that nothing bad will happen and there are no risks involved; there is always a risk! Don't make yourself regret riding without a hat.
 
Hat every time..I was in a freak accident with my saint of a horse yesterday and banged my head, got my arms ripped to shreds by a hawthorn hedge and have brusied my coccyx, my pelvis and left hip :eek:. I was sick and dizzy afterwards but my head is still intact. Never worth the risk...
 
I really can't see why someone wouldn't put a hat on, it only takes a second? If it is for vanity I don't get it either...I am definitely not a snob, but when I see someone riding hatless (in the UK) I cannot help but think 'traveller' or 'chav'!? I am not a hat fascist though. BTW I learnt to ride in the era of the 3686 hats which came off before you hit the ground so I love the new hats which actually do their job. They look smart and workmanlike and most people now hunt in modern hats.
 
I've never ridden without a hat and would feel downright peculiar with a "naked head". I've been riding out recently here and several of the people on the hack didn't bother with hats or even proper footwear (including a doctor)...
 
When I was younger I used to ride without a hat because it was "cool", then about eight years ago at a time when I didn't own a horse, I was in a group at a riding school having a jumping lesson in the field. They put me on a horse which hadn't seen fillers before, but they didn't tell me. I went to the jump, the horse stopped and dropped it's shoulder before the fence and I went straight out the side door. I smacked my head on the grass. I was concussed slightly but didn't think anything of it. When I checked my hat afterwards, I found that the skull cap had broken with the impact (bear in mind this was only on grass). If I hadn't had a hat on, it would have been my skull which would have been broken. I have NEVER not worn a hat since and I never will ride without one ever again.
 
For me its a no brainer - always wear a hat. If I dont I might find myself with no brain!

However, maybe I should take a few risks in life. was thinking about going bungee jumping. Now the safe option would be to jump with the cord attached, bit like wearing a hat.

Maybe I will take a wee risk and try jumping without the cord attached. Afterall, as someone said, if I tell myself I will be fine, I will be.

Will let you all know how it goes.............
 
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