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

Hat all the time when riding. If I ever get to 'top hat' level BD, I will still wear a crash hat.

For the last two years I have been wearing a hat when handling on the ground as well after having a couple of near misses with a rearing horse.

I have been thinking of getting myself into the habit of wearing a BP all the time as well, but haven't gotten round to finding one I like.
 
I used to work on a neuro ward so - hat, every time. I don't ever want to end up like some of the patients there - tbh, the thought of ending up like that scares me much, much more than the thought of being killed outright.

The thought that sticks in my mind most is the sound of a man who had lost the ability to move, speak or do anything else grinding his teeth so loudly you could hear it from the other end of the ward. That and making moaning sounds were the only things he could do:(
 
Hat hat hat even for schooling or just sitting on.daughter fell off cracked two ribs when horse was standing still!!! just got on. a paper bag went under his legs and he lept big time. She was taken unaware and we were talking at time, ( normally he would not react). Just shows you dont have to be moving. If handling some thing silly or young a hat is a must.. Dont fancy being a cabbage state in a chair and a burden to family.. So wear a hat dont be vain,
 
I wear my hat for riding only, never handling but maybe I should consider if after nearly getting kicked in the head last week while picking out feet!

I wouldn't get on a horse without one, but it is a person's own decision at the end of the day.

Much the same that I would never get on a motorbike without wearing all the proper safety gear.
 
just some comedy input here-would appear i need to wear one at all times,never mind on a horse, as im such a plonker.......bent down to pick up a cat, stumbled,stood up and completely mullered my head on the metal under edge of a stable top door, que blood EVERYWHERE and a whopping headache.am sporting a big dressing currently and praying it stops as really dont want to spend my sun evening in A&E!!!

i am SUCH a muppet!
 
Ouchies! Poor you, that's the kind of thing I do! (last time I banged my head badly was I juyst lost my balance and fell forward and cracked my head off a sink splitting my eyebrow open!)

Hope you feel better soon!
 
Ouch that does sound painful!

I have to admit I wear my hat in the horsebox as well because I kept banging my head ducking under the breast bar all the time! Duh!
 
i think as a country we are a nation of hat wearers - i do wonder in other countries where hats are not commonly worn are there more serious head injuries due to horse related accidents?

i always wear a hat now but have ridden overseas on holiday without a hat on and so did my friend who has never sat on a horse before when we went to mexico 10 years ago. however i do think that in some overseas countries the horses are better behaved (anything really tricky ending up as horsemeat) and there is often less traffic or risky things going on.

here in the uk our horses are not always so well behaved and perhaps we ride in more dangerous circumstances, a lot of road riding, people on horses that are not well schooled or people are over horsed or just taking bigger risks.

apart from the time i was silly on holiday i always wear my hat but then i don't consider myself so good a rider that i will not fall off. i have fallen off in the school before in walk on my pony when he spooked when some children leapt out of a barn next to the school and he is not a spooky sort normally.

i think people should always wear at hat when jumping and riding on the roads at the very least.
 
SO1 said:
i think people should always wear at hat when jumping and riding on the roads at the very least.
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Roads/drivers were the literal conversion point for me years ago - when a groups of us realised drivers simply didn't appreciate pretty horses being ridden by (arguably) pretty riders as a picture, we used to get comments along the lines of 'where's your hat' (expletives deleted), hats on roads become the norm. It took a while for me to feel the need to wear a hat at ALL times but hey, the hair products are better now so what's the problem ...LOL
 
depends how well you know the horse your riding and what you are doing with it. if your jumping or hacking or on a horse you dont know or trust, definatly HAT.
but if your on your own horse and you know its safe then i say there is an exception for schooling on a hot day :)
 
it really puzzles me how cross these type of threads always become on a variety of forums:confused:
i choose to wear a hat - i would prefer that my family members [ ie people that i might end up with some care responsibility for ] wear hats - other peoples' choices dont actually impact on me - so i feel no need to get aerated bout that
re hi-viz - i wear hi-viz when hacking alone in a sometimes hopeless attempt to make drivers actually notice me & my very large white horse:rolleyes:
 
I cringe when I see people not wearing hats, or pateys out hunting!

My father has suffered a fractured skull with a hat, and wouldn't be here without one.

I just cannot really understand anyone with any family or close friends wanting to ride without a hat. Buy a nice new one with lots of vents, it doesn't make your head sweat or ruin your quiff.

I think in the school its easy to think you are immune from outside influence, but reality is if a low flying helicopter appears and your horse spooks and throws you into the side, then its curtains.

I am aware this is a dangerous sport, but I cannot see the reason for not wanting to take a basic precaution! Weirdly people ride without hats, but with gloves - so they will protect their hands from getting rough, but not their heads!! :eek:

I would ban the use of no hat in warm up, pateys, top hats and bowlers in all competitions, therefore more beautiful safe hats would be designed and the need for people to copy the pros would diminish.
 
Personally, I wear one 99% of the time. I did ride without on holiday - galloping along the beach at that on a horse I'd never met before.
At home? a) at the livery I'm on, we HAVE to wear hats. b) I'd rather not be stuck in hospital for any length of time tbh....

I choose to wear one. For riding & lunging/long reining. If I think a horse is far too nuts to consider getting on it without (if I had to go without) I wouldn't get on it.
I don't ride in a body protector however - why? Because I find them very restrictive and think I actually have a lower chance of staying on the horse WITH one, so I opt to go without for all but XC (speed + solid fences? No thanks.) Whereas a hat isn't going to affect me in any way, except maybe make my head hot.
Nor would I come onto a yard in flip flops though ;) Riding boots don't do much to stop me riding well!

There's nobody really in my little world that I care about so much for that aspect to affect my decision, I ride in a hat for my own sake. I ride, when I do, without one, and it's my own choice.
Same as with riding bareback, hacking on roads, jumping, getting out of bed in the morning......... life's a risky business!
 
Out of interest, all those that *preach* (for want of a better word) to those that don't wear hats, do you do the same to smokers? As last time i checked smoking contributed to more deaths a year than riding without a hat....

Would you walk up to someone smoking in the street and tell them that someone somewhere will have to 'pick up the pieces' when they get lung cancer?
 
Out of interest, all those that *preach* (for want of a better word) to those that don't wear hats, do you do the same to smokers?
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Interesting comparison - and I was just actually thinking the same thing.

There is also no question that smoking may kill you, just as not wearing a hat may.....
 
I always wear a hat, the thought of not never crossed my mind as at the livery yards i have been at for last 5 years said you arent allowed and had to sign a contract to say you wouldn't. scary YO got really angry if she saw someone without one :O

Have my own house with land now and still always wear one cos I have a 3 year old- unpredicatbale. and a spooky highly strung older tb.

One day i'm hoping to get to advanced medium plus so when i get there i would love to wear a top hat (?) and tails in comp! I would hope by that time my I would know my 3 year old front to back and he would be very well schooled so wouldn't be at risk :)

I do understand that if you have a very well schooled horse that you know back to front and just schooling in a menage then its ok. Would def never tho if cross countrying/ sj and hacking on roads! too many bad accidents with hat on has happened and even got mild concussion once where i forgot events of the day :O can't bear to think what would have happended if hadn't been wearing a hat :S

oh what you said above about smoking. even though unrelated to hat topic (i hope i didn't seem like i was preaching??) i do get an urge to tell people on the streets about smoking. learnt about it in a level bio and would never even touch one. lol i hold my breath when some one is smoking nearby! :P
 
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Saratoga said:
Out of interest, all those that *preach* (for want of a better word) to those that don't wear hats, do you do the same to smokers? As last time i checked smoking contributed to more deaths a year than riding without a hat....

Would you walk up to someone smoking in the street and tell them that someone somewhere will have to 'pick up the pieces' when they get lung cancer?
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To be fair I can't really see many people preaching about the hat thing on this thread, just stating whether they choose to wear a hat or not. However, you are right, if we think that others should wear a hat to minimise risk of injury to themselves, then by comparison we should counsel similar caution with other risk taking activities (from smoking to getting pregnant) and we should also take the same precautions with all our activities.

Having said that, there is an easier line to defend: wearing a hat or not is a matter of personal choice, but for many people, e.g. competitors, those who ride in public, those with a public profile, it's also a matter of setting a good example for other, many of whom are children. This gives many people an extra reason to make the choice to wear a hat. In addition, riding in a certain context, e.g. at a livery yard, at a competition, involves having to ride under the rules of that establishment and horse organisations and societies should have rules for wearing hats as part of their duty of care towards those who ride under their rules. If that were followed most people would wear hats most of the time :)
 
Saratoga said:
Out of interest, all those that *preach* (for want of a better word) to those that don't wear hats, do you do the same to smokers? As last time i checked smoking contributed to more deaths a year than riding without a hat....

Would you walk up to someone smoking in the street and tell them that someone somewhere will have to 'pick up the pieces' when they get lung cancer?
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It's a bit different though if you're walking up to someone smoking in the street. If it was a thread on a forum I think you'd see plenty of people "preaching" about smoking.
 
CotswoldSJ said:
I cringe when I see people not wearing hats, or pateys out hunting!

I would ban the use of no hat in warm up, pateys, top hats and bowlers in all competitions, therefore more beautiful safe hats would be designed and the need for people to copy the pros would diminish.
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Well said, totally agree. I have seen so many supposedly fitted Pateys go bouncing across the hunting field on impact. I would never ride or hunt without my Charles Owen and I just put up with the stick given about the so called wally strap...
 
rowy said:
......I do understand that if you have a very well schooled horse that you know back to front and just schooling in a menage then its ok.........
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Just out of curiousity, Courtney King-Dye was riding one of her very well schooled horses, whom she knew well, in a menage...
 
Booboos said:
To be fair I can't really see many people preaching about the hat thing on this thread, just stating whether they choose to wear a hat or not. However, you are right, if we think that others should wear a hat to minimise risk of injury to themselves, then by comparison we should counsel similar caution with other risk taking activities (from smoking to getting pregnant) and we should also take the same precautions with all our activities.

Having said that, there is an easier line to defend: wearing a hat or not is a matter of personal choice, but for many people, e.g. competitors, those who ride in public, those with a public profile, it's also a matter of setting a good example for other, many of whom are children. This gives many people an extra reason to make the choice to wear a hat. In addition, riding in a certain context, e.g. at a livery yard, at a competition, involves having to ride under the rules of that establishment and horse organisations and societies should have rules for wearing hats as part of their duty of care towards those who ride under their rules. If that were followed most people would wear hats most of the time :)
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But i think that's my point. We can pull people to pieces for all sorts of choices they make in their life. I for one can never understand why anyone would choose to smoke, it's disgusting, it's expensive and inevitably it will probably kill you. But i don't get on my high horse about it when others choose to.

Smoking is a personal choice, and it's accepted by most people, even though it's a bigger known killer than not wearing a hat whilst riding.

So why do people get so upset about riding without a hat, but not smoking?
 
thelwell_girl said:
Just out of curiousity, Courtney King-Dye was riding one of her very well schooled horses, whom she knew well, in a menage...
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I know there is still a risk, but it is severly reduced when riding in a menage than out on the roads. I personally wouldn't ride without a hat, other than in comps later on when i get to wear a top hat :P. But I was just saying I could understand people that did in this case :)
 
always wear a hat you must be crazy to ride without! i always ride ith a body protector cos im forced to , no body protector means im not allowed my pony!!!! not fair :( the only time i dont wear a hat when im on a horse is if i sit n him in the field :P
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
ditto the comments re smoking, and as for CKD....i heard she was riding on a concrete walkway between two arenas when the accident happened, not actually in an arena.....
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Her website and the news stories say she was schooling, as did the account of her accident. Even if she was riding along a concrete walkway... Even more reason to don that helmet!

rowy said:
I know there is still a risk, but it is severly reduced when riding in a menage than out on the roads. I personally wouldn't ride without a hat, other than in comps later on when i get to wear a top hat :P. But I was just saying I could understand people that did in this case :)
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I do see what you mean... If I ever get to the level you are at (in a looooooooong time!) you can bet I'll be accessorising my tails with a lovely velvet helmet!
 
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