is there any reason to not wear a riding hat?

its called Stupidity!!

I once forgot to put a hat on, I was watching a friend ride and she offered me a go, I had my hood up as it was slightly raining and thought that was my hat!! It wasn't until the first canter when my hood blew down I realised (friend occasionly rides hatless so didn't think to tell me) So I got off and said I would ride the next time with my hat!

Although the other day I did go a whole schooling session on my Horse, with the chinstrap not done up!! opps
 
I used to ride my daughters pony in the school without a hat- she was quite forward but 100% safe... i was one of those "i know her inside out" "its only Tilly" type people, until one day we cantered round the field and she had a coughing fit, Due to the huge coughs and the fact i didnt check my girth as she jammed on the breaks the saddle flew over her head.
How stupid did i look and feel, although we all laughed hysterically about it- the slight pause between me knowing i was coming off with no hat and hitting the ground was scary. I was lucky i didnt hit my head but its proof that you can come off the most trustworthy horse and its just not worth the risk.
 
I'm sure many people will come up with all sorts of reasons why not but personally I always wear mine nowadays. It's not nice since it's chuffing roasting out here and I look like i've taken a shower fully clothed after a couple of hours in the saddle (not just on the one horse I hasten to add), BUT i'm just not willing to take the risk.

I've done it in the dim and distant past and now look back at myself and think, you stupid, stupid, arrogant girl. I was young, silly and incredibly sure of myself and my horse and thank god nothing came of it. More luck than judgement.

I couldn't give a hoot if I look horrendous. I'd look a darn site worse lying in hospital with my head smashed. I really should wear my body protector for jumping too since only yesterday I managed to come off but I think that in this heat I would actually pass out.

At the end of the day it's up to the individual.
 
I always use a hat and feel undressed without one!! About 6 years ago my lad bolted, his bit snapped so i had no control. I fell off on to the grass badly concussed (could see 5 of everything!) My hat was totally squashed you could squeeze each side together. It saved my life im sure, and i wear a hat to lead unruly horses to the field too just in case
 
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There are lots of people around here who regularly ride out without a hat.

In particular, a well-known racehorse trainer, who rides out in his flat cap, a couple of thirty-something women, who are always utterly immaculately turned out, and a father who rides his teenage daughter's 14.2hh ponies out with her (although she does wear one).

I can only think it is a status thing and an image they wish to project, in a 'look how confident & competent I am on my horses' kind of way.

Personally, I like my head too much not to wear one...
 
Its Personal Choice!! i never wear a hat unless jumping, if a fall off and smash my head open, so be it, its My choice!!
 
I have ridden twice without a hat and tbh I regret it. Both times was on holiday in a different country and they were not provided, i wouldnt do it again, especially as the one i was riding reared up with me and totaly scared the **** out of me!

As I said I would never do it again as its just not worth the risk and I wish I had never done it.
 
Personally - I LOATH wearing a riding hat as I sweat through my head excessively and end up looking like a drowned rat - with a dripping wet fringe and sticky hair - even after 15 mins of wearing one at walk. And this is even wearing the best modern ventiated models; but I wouldn't lunge or lead out without wearing one - let alone ride without one on. Even if it does mean I look like the 'Wreck of the Hesperus' most of the time, as my mother calls me. :rolleyes:

Better that, than dead IMO.
 
I always wear a hat to ride as it is yard rules at our livery and I feel naked without one!

Having a very minor concussion at the moment (from a bump with a knee on the ground) and feeling dog rough five days after it happened convinces me I really should wear one on the ground too. I might invest in something new as mine has had a few knocks and probably isn't as great as it was either.
 
None at all. Sitting here with a splitting headache feeling sick 3 weeks after a high impact fall either into a fence post or kicked in the head (fall not witnessed but hat examined by manufacture), I would not dream of not wearing hat, but sadly some people think that they are never going to fall off at home so its up to them if they dont wear one:rolleyes:
 
Those that don't wear as riding hat are brainless allready - so what difference will the hat make when they fall off! :D

Always wear mine when riding and also when handling the youngsters when I am anticipating some lively behaviour.

If I'd been wearing one the day I was clipping the bosses racehorse I may not have needed 8 stitches in my scalp! It reared and spun and a hoof came down on my head - had to laugh though - I didn't drop the clippers and the horse had to go to the races clipped on one side only.
 
I used to sometimes take the 'it's only Lottie, for 5 mins, I won't bother' route untill she fell on a hack and rolled right over Sharer. She had a very good BP and her hat on and got up and walked away (not literally, she got up and sat with us waiting for the vet) but wouldn't have without either BP or hat. The ambulance arriving to collect her would probably have finished off Lottie who was in shock and Beau would have legged it!

I'm still a bit lax about my BP (just youngster and jumping really) but hat EVERY time though I may jump on Lottie in the school for 2 mins in OH hat which is a little big, to show him how to do something, being a boy he gets showing straight away rather than explaining.
 
I always wear a hat / high vis / body protector.

However, after my Dad had brain surgery several years ago he did ride occasionally without a hat as we struggled to find one that wasn't painful to wear. This was a good few years after the surgery. He only ever ride a couple of times a year and didn't do much. I wasn't overly happy but he was adament that he was lucky to have survived the surgery and didn't want to stop doing things he enjoyed. He fully accepted the risks.

We did eventually find a more padded hat (can't remember the make) and he does now ride with a hat. I now have a bit more peace of mind!
 
I am also one of these people that feel's naked without a hat! The closest I have got to not having one on was forgetting to do the chin strap up but someone always spotted it and I quickly did it up. I know of one person that used the excuse of owning the horse so long that he didn't need to but to me, that was just stupid. I had Pharaoh for 5 years and could read him like a book which also meant that I knew certain things could upset him and one day I may not be able to hang on. I know of a girl that regularly sat on her horse in the field or stable with no hat on, again it seems so stupid to me. The horse could be munching on hay/grass one minute and the next minute something could have set him off and you could be lying on the floor. It just isn't worth the risk IMO, something that may look ugly or may make you feel uncomfortable on a hot day could save you from months and months of emotional and physical pain!
 
Karma kicked me in the ass the one and only time I rode without a hat! I was only hopping on my shetland for 15mins to school him in a pelham before he went to a show and thought it wouldn't be a bother - nuh uh - pony tripped over his own feet and we both ended up rolling along the floor! So now, afet my one forray karma defo isn't going to be tempted again lol!
 
If I hadn't been wearing a hat, then the picture below would have been so much worse... It was a silly fall, a nothing fall, the first fall in years and years and years...

brain001.gif



And if the brain damage I suffered is not enough to put people off, the incredible nausea/sickness should do nicely :cool:. Even moving my eyes set off wave upon wave of sickness.

Add to it all the effect it had on my family and friends, including my then eleven year old daughter fighting to get into the ambulance. Well. If anyone reading this thinks it is their decision and will only affect them, I have one word, Bollox.


Edited to add: the bleed is the lighter coloured sweep on the lower left, facing the picture.
 
For years and years I never wore one in the summer months when I was in the menage...that was ages ago though and when I look at my old riding hat it would never have protected me [does anyone remember the single strap velvet hat with about 0.5cm of 'protection' from the early 1980's]???

I do now though, new hats are so light and comfortable and definitely safer.

Plus if I fell off my 17.2hh I wouldn't be able to get up and walk away....
 
MrsM is it just me or is there a smiley face in your brain????

What pee's me off most is the thought that I will have to witness/deal with someones brain splattered all over the road, fence, yard..... effing selfish if you ask me.

Still folk hunt in those hats without chinstraps, and the tophats in higher level dressage are not going to do much to prevent brain splat!
 
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I am constantly amazed that BD and BE don't phase out top hats in honesty and make it a requirement to wear a 'proper' hat. I'm not saying I care one way or the other but it does still surprise me given that they're a large organisation and I would have thought they'd want to set a precedent of safety.

(again, in no way do I think they should have to do this, or that I care one way or the other, it just surprises me!)
 
Usually wear my hat, doesn't help when I fall off as I always land on my backside

I'll bring him in from the field without a hat on, last week I jumped on and realised I was still wearing a skirt, oops
 
About 12 years ago I was riding at a riding school and we were jumping in the outside field which was hard ground at the time. The horse dropped it's shoulder and I fell off, smacking my head on the GRASS. As the ground was hard, I didn't realise until I got home (with concussion!) that the impact of my head on the ground has cracked the hat. If I hadn't been wearing a head, I could and probably would have had severe brain damage or worse. I wear a hat for riding and lunging, always. It makes me cringe when I get to the yard early mornings and see one of my friends in the school on her horse not wearing a hat. She has a husband and a young son - I don't understand why she takes the risk of serious injury which could result in other people having to look after her for the rest of her life when it could easily be prevented.
 
There's only been one horse in my life I would of considered not wearing a hat. I never did but I always felt so very safe on her.

However she, as safe as she was when out hacking one day, down quite bridleway on the buckle. She tripped, I came straight over her head and landed first first on a rock. Hat split in two, bad concussion for me and a night in a and e.

If I hadn't been wearing a hat it would of been my skull. And It hurt enough as it was :D
 
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