Personal Choice - Hats

[_jetset_]

There have been times when I have ridden without a hat, not because I am worried about my hair getting messed up but because I get a strange reaction when I have had a hard schooling session (I think it must be like a sweat rash) which then takes a good couple of days to go down.

However, when I took on a youngster, I was not taking any chances and have worn a hat every time I have ridden her. Because our schooling sessions are not on the scale of when Hannah was fit and competing, I am so far not having any problems with the hat causing a rash (I have tried many things to prevent it).

But, what I must add is that the people I have known who have had serious accidents with horses have been when they were working with them on the ground. A young girl who lived not far from me was leading her horse into the field, let it go and it spun, bucked and kicked her in the head. Unfortunately she died quite quickly. Similarly, the young girl who has caused a stir due to the insurance issues was kicked from the ground.

Although I agree that a hard hat should be worn when out riding on the roads, I still think it is up to the yard owner's and the horse owners to decide whether or not it should be compulsory in the school and when working the horse in hand. Our YO has recently introduced a rule stating that hats should be worn at all times when riding, and children under 16 years must wear a hat when leading a horse to and from the field.

Rebecca

 

[Rambo]

[ QUOTE ]
Our point of view is that rider safety is paramount, and whenever we photograph a trainer or leading rider in the saddle, we always request that they wear a hat with a chin strap - however, some choose not to wear a hat with a chin strap in our pics, and in many cases, do not even have one!


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry, but your stance here is nothing short of weak !

You, as a leading magazine in the field of horses and horsemanship should be SETTING standards and ENFORCING policies....not just politely requesting

The people you refer to, rely on the free publicity that you give them by offering column inches. If they won't wear hats, then don't publish their articles

RANT OVER

 

[_jetset_]

I think the problem is that many 'professional' riders do not wear hats when riding, especially those in the dressage circle. After all, most of their tests are ridden wearing a top hat which comes off extremely easily.

 

[eventingdiva]

I'm not sure about making people wear hats, horses are dangerous, but surely it is up to each individual person to decide on how much safety equipment they wear? And where do we stop...hats/ body protectors? Or do we take it further?
At the dressage yard i work at, no-one wears a hat, you get on whichever horse you happen to be leading when you're asked to get on it, and getting a hat never enters the equation. So far (and i hope i'm not tempting fate) the worst accident i've had was leading a young horse to the school to be ridden, he reared and came down on top of me, and i had concussion and a suspected broken neck. Thank god it wasn't.
x

 

[GTs]

It is funny how 90% of the responder missed the point - if you choose to ride without a helmet, would you say it is OK for your family to choose not to go out of their way to take care of you if you became disabled?

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Because medical staff are taught to leave their personal opinions at the door and treat every person the same. It's why I have so much respect for some of the nurses I know - they treat criminals, domestic abuse agressors, obnoxious prats all with the same professionalism as they treat the more pleasant elements of society

[/ QUOTE ]

I just think before you expect people, society and your loves to take care of you, you should meet them half way and take care of yourself. It is the same for smoking - if any of my family starts smoking and gets lung cancer I will be concerned but not be in the hospital for every step of their treatment as I would if my mother had breast cancer, or my father got prostate cancer.

 

[Tia]

Oh cool - the debate is back on track again.

However I have no time to give any input to this discussion at the moment - visitors et al.

GTs I think your expectations of life are very tainted

. You are honestly saying that if your Mum were to contract lung cancer due to smoking that you would not be by her bedside and try to help her through the horrific treatment? I'm sorry but that is alien to me. If my Mum was dying then I don't care what of.......I WILL be there for her every step of the way.

In the same way as I would be there for my Dad if he were in a dreadful car accident and had not been wearing a seatbelt......and in the same way as I would also be at the bedside of my husband were he to have an accident on a horse, whether he was wearing a hat or not.

Death is death......the journey there makes no difference to me.

 

[GTs]

If my mother got lung cancer from smoking (not that she smokes), I would feel very different than if it was just a natural occurance. Ofcourse I would be by her side, I love her very much, but I will not view her as an innocent victim!!

And in response to Emma's post - personal characteristics are often reviewed in looking at a patient's candidacy for certain procedures. Smokers will not have fingers re-attached, organ recipiants have many traits they have to follow - why do they do this. They are not going to waste valuable resources on people whose lifestyle put them at risk for complications.