Professional riders riding without hats...?

[rolsterlady]

Hi everyone

Anyone have an answer as to why many professional riders ride without hats!? Dressage riders mainly, but also show jumpers when at home etc. I know it's a tradition thing, but i'm suprised so many people still do it! Even if you do have a reliable and experienced horse, it is an animal after all... there is still a high risk of falling off!

What are your opinions on this?

 

[joosie]

I have no idea WHY they do it. I just think it's stupid that they do. You would think that as professionals they understood the risks... but then again, maybe they DO understand and they just don't care. I really don't know.

 

[Rambo]

You ain't gonna change the old guard....it's their head and their choice. All i can say is it does seem to be less common that it was and hopefully one day it will be history. Attitudes do change....i remember as a teenager showjumping in a beagler with no chinstrap. Wouldn't hack out now without a decent hat and chinstrap on at all times. Just make sure YOU set the example yku want others to follow

 

[monkeybum13]

I often see a local 4* eventer out hacking on the roads with just a baseball hat.

Personally I think it is madness but at the end of the day it is his head so his choice.

 

[LEC]

I think its a continental thing. Mind you the hunting field are dreadful for it riding in Beaglers.

 

[VioletStripe]

Makes me angry, horses are still horses and anything can happen, no matter how good the rider! Yesterday I had a very nasty fall where without a hat, I'm pretty sure I would have fractured my skull! As it is I got away with a nasty concussion, a bit of a shock with a bit of memory loss regarding the incident and now a hat in need of replacement Admittedly, I'm not a fantastic international rider, but even they make mistakes and/or have falls! xx

ETA: No idea why they ride without, but I don't think it's at all responsible!

 

[xspiralx]

It doesn't make me angry, but I think its a little foolhardy - particularly if you're riding a strange horse, or in a circumstance that you can't completely control - for example out hacking or jumping.

Even if you're so good that you virtually never fall off, there is always a chance that something can spook the horse, it can trip or stumble and fall.

When I was trying my old boy before buying him my YO sat on him (no hat) and took him over a jump. He panicked, took off but got his legs tangled in the pole and came crashing down - she was under his legs and he stood on her as he got up. If he'd stood on her head she'd have been killed.

When its their living, you'd think they'd be extra careful. But that said, its their decision at the end of the day - its no skin off my nose what they do.

 

[amage]

The most remarkable thing of all is that any of them who have personal insurance to cover them for loss of earnings if injured are actually completely voiding the insurance by riding without a hat! mental!!

 

[rolsterlady]

The most remarkable thing of all is that any of them who have personal insurance to cover them for loss of earnings if injured are actually completely voiding the insurance by riding without a hat! mental!!

I never thought of that but of course! It is mental yes. Oh well, as everyone has said, it's their head!

 

[Mavis007]

I have to agree anyone riding without a hat is mad. To me it is not the risk to themselves- as people say, their head, their choice- it is to those that love them. If someone dies or is in a coma or becomes a vegetable, they will know nothing about it but everyone who cares for them, or relies on them for a living as well in the case of professionals, certainly will suffer as a result. Therefore, unless a person has no friends or relatives (or employees), my opinion is that riding without a hat is an extremely selfish thing to do

 

[kirstyhen]

Whilst I agree and would never ride without a hat, I see no one getting up in arms about professionals not wearing a hat whilst clipping or leading a horse in from the field or picking their feet out, all jobs just as likely to result in head injuries.
Not saying for a second it justifies not wearing a hat to ride, but I do get a little tired of hearing how dangerous being on a horse is, with no mention as to how dangerous it is being around horses!
Putting studs in a super fit competition horse at a competition, whilst it's flailing around, has to be one of the most high risk jobs, yet how many of us wear a hat?
I don't, so I'm not about to start preaching at someone else for not wearing a hat to ride.

 

[TheoryX1]

I have to say its not something I agree with, and it seems particularily prevalent in the dressage community. In fact a couple of teenagers on our yard, who do compete at dressage think its positively cool to school their horses without a hat, and are hankering after a beagler each for xmas. I have to say, it makes my blood curdle, but kirstyhen's comments are dead right. How many times have I spent studding up my daughter's eventer, who is super fit and is every excited because she can hear the xc commentary and whilstles. Loads, and I never wear a hat. I do admit to lunging in my hat, because I have had near misses with both of my horses when they are fresh, but thats it.

 

[madmav]

I always wear a hat now - hate hat hair and itchy head, but do realise it is doing a useful job. In my long-distant youth, however, no one ever wore a hat apart from at competitions. Fairly terrifying to think really that we all hacked up to Hampstead Heath crossing North Circular etc minus hats and wearing plimsolls and jeans. Lucky to be here still!!!

 

[MagicMelon]

I have no idea WHY they do it. I just think it's stupid that they do. You would think that as professionals they understood the risks... but then again, maybe they DO understand and they just don't care. I really don't know.

Same here. I dont care if its a professional or an amateur - I think its selfish for anyone to ride without a hat at anytime. Just puts a strain on the NHS and also their family if they fall off and get a head injury.

 

[Kat]

It surprises me that there have never been any prosections, because whilst it isn't the law that you must wear a hat to ride your own horse in private, it is a breach of all kinds of health and safety at work legislation!

 

[quirky]

Each to their own, I would personally never ride without a hat. I love my life/family/animals too much to risk it in such a foolhardy way.

What gets me though ... is the riders who go hatless at home and then compete in say a KEP that retails at £400 (I think I'm right in saying). Why ? Why spend top dollar on a hat that you only wear because you have to, not because you wish it to save your skull.

It just seems rather perverse to me .

 

[Puppy]

I think it looks distinctly unprofessional and would be hugely put off employing the services of anyone who has so little good sense.

I've had a bad head injury, c/o a horse. Hence I've been teary all morning and haven't been out of bed yet today, because 2 1/2 years on I still feel in so much pain.

I really think the people who say 'It's their choice' don't truly know what they're risking...

 

[kerilli]

i think familiarity breeds contempt, or at least overweening, unthinking pride/obliviousness. people who ride without a hat believe they're too good to fall off and get hurt. unfortunately, as many of us know, horses are totally unpredictable creatures at times - even the sweetest, most placid of them can suddenly have a Moment, and when they do, their speed and power takes you by surprise, and it can be pure dumb luck whether you get hurt or not.
i thought the high-profile injury to the American team rider Courtney King-Dyer would change a lot of people's minds, but apparently not.
what amazes me actually is people who can't really ride who do so without a hat. at least if you are well balanced and a very good rider you are, hopefully, far less likely to hit the deck!
i agree with Puppy though, maybe those who go hatless have not truly considered the consequences. there are at least 2 HHOers, by my reckoning, who are probably still here only because they were wearing a hat when they came off and got serious concussion, or worse...

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

"What gets me though ... is the riders who go hatless at home and then compete in say a KEP that retails at £400 (I think I'm right in saying)"


that'll be me then!

i wasnt going to comment but as being as iv been half way dragged in anyway.

if any of you are overweight, smoke or drink,speed, use the phone whilst driving etc,sunbathe................ you put just as much of a strain on the NHS and have no right to preach at me....pot meet kettle.........

this has been DONE.TO.DEATH.

search the archives instead of repeating an old argument.

 

[quirky]

"What gets me though ... is the riders who go hatless at home and then compete in say a KEP that retails at £400 (I think I'm right in saying)"


that'll be me then!

i wasnt going to comment but as being as iv been half way dragged in anyway.

if any of you are overweight, smoke or drink,speed, use the phone whilst driving etc,sunbathe................ you put just as much of a strain on the NHS and have no right to preach at me....pot meet kettle.........

this has been DONE.TO.DEATH.

search the archives instead of repeating an old argument.

Umm, no not you, but if the cap fits , I wouldn't class you as a professional rider. The rider I was referring to regularly represents GB in dressage.

As for your above list, nope I don't do any of those but I expect I will require the NHS at some point but hopefully I won't be a brain damaged burden on them, like some .

 

[Mbronze]

Well said Quirky

 

[stencilface]

I don't get it at all. But then I also don't get why event riders are so happy to wear a top hat/beagler and then are so keen to strap on a BP and P2 when they go XC - I assume a fit flighty event horse is just as likely to ditch someone in dressage as on the xc, I have seen a fair few riders ditched in the dressage

 

[flyingfeet]

I guess because if you do it everyday you have to think you are invincible, and don't spend too much time thinking about accidents which could happen

Most of the time its pure vanity - especially when choosing to wear a baseball cap (i.e. its not because they didn't want their hair flattened)

 

[nikkimariet]

Kerilli - people who ride without a hat believe they're too good to fall off and get hurt

Nope. My horse is just not a spanner.*

Quirky - Sorry but you didn't clarify that you aimed your post at pro riders so it could have been taken any what way, and I think the way that it has been taken is a fair response to an obvious dig.

A fair few eventers on here also hunt, and do so in a beagler with no body protecter. A number of people (DR, XC, SJ) jump in a school without a hat. Or a body protecter.

I don't mind that this will always be an argument. But at least make it a just one, without eventers and jumpers and anybody who likes an argument launching in preaching about the dangers of not wearing a hat when really, some of you aren't much better.

 

[quirky]

Quirky - Sorry but you didn't clarify that you aimed your post at pro riders so it could have been taken any what way, and I think the way that it has been taken is a fair response to an obvious dig.

FGS, the title of the thread gave it away .... Professional riders riding without hats.

Paranoia rules .

 

[Horsemad12]

I always wear a hat, but I am not soooo old to be classed as the old brigade that is use to not wearing them. I never SJ, school or hack in a BP.

I wonder if in a number of years time this post will be repeated with BP as the subject not hats?

Times change, safety moves on, sometimes it just takes longer for others to catch up.

The lack of hats does seem to be more common with pro riders but then if I had to ride for 8 hrs a day on a hot summer day, would I change my opinion? Who knows I am never going to be a pro!

I will stick to my day job which is ironically safety!

 

[SpottedCat]

I think it all depends on the ethos of the people you are surrounded with TBH. I socialise far more with people who do sports other than riding. Our house is full of different helmets for different sports. I don't rock climb without my Petzl Elios (and let's face it, it isn't going to help a bit if I deck out, its only use is if someone drops rock on me from above!!); I wouldn't dream of getting on my mountain bike without my cycle helmet (and have been known to sit in the car and read a book after driving over an hour to go biking and realising it's been forgotten); I have a lovely Head snowboarding helmet; I took up Roller Derby at the end of last year and have a great Target skate helmet; and I own three different riding hats, which get replaced religiously (as do the other helmets for other sports).

Because I don't know anyone who skis/boards/climbs/bikes/skates without a helmet, to me it is as much a part of getting kitted up as my harness is for climbing, or my gloves are for biking. I just don't see why you'd take the risk in any sport of not protecting your head - and neither do the people I surround myself with. Doing risk sports puts you in enough danger as it is, I have no idea why you'd want to do it with anything other than the available safety gear. For the record, I SJ with no BP on, but XC in a bodycage (which makes me look like I have a terrible position XC, so I'll probably never buy a pro photo again, but to me the vanity of looking better does not outweigh the risk of the horse squashing me!). I don't do dressage in a beagler - but I do wear one to prize giving!

I know when I was on a dressage yard where people routinely didn't wear hats, I didn't think about it nearly so much - now I am on a yard populated by professionals in other industries, who basically would think you were a few sandwiches short of a picnic to get on a horse without a proper helmet on. So the culture you immerse yourself in has an enormous effect I think.

 

[zxp]

This is an interesting one... I have ridden without a hat. Quite a few times infact. It made me feel very rebellious and "dressagey" from my pretty old-school PC upbringing. Infact, I thought I was pretty damn cool for doing it.

I would not class myself as an easily influenced kind of person. Infact, I am pretty stubborn and bloody-minded. BUT there was always a subconscious "pro's don't wear hats" thing in the back of my mind. So, when I was riding with a group of people who didn't use one and I had the opportunity to, I wouldn't wear a hat. I must admit, it feels kinda good - but then (having done simulated sky-dives!) so does free falling. But I'm guessing hitting the ground would not be so pleasurable. It got nearly second nature to me at one point to not wear a hat.

Then once, I was with my trainer and two horses and she asked me to hop on and warm the other one up, and I put a foot in the stirrup without a hat on. She laid into me. Basically saying, what I do in my private time is of no concern to her, but on her property I had disrespected her by putting the foot in the stirrup without a hat on. I felt about 4 yrs old and throughtly embarrassed. This was a woman who I look up to greatley and would class a friend as well as a trainer. Now, I respect her much more than any of the friends I rode hatless with, and the pro pictures I had seen online or in magazines. I realised in that split second how selfish I was being. I also ride alot with my neice who is 8, and good-god it would make my blood run cold to see her ride without a hat. It is a very simple thing to do, and can save massive head trauma, so for me the psychological "cost-benefit" analysis isn't a very difficult one to figure out. I would rather have hat hair than be in a vegitative state having to have someone look after me.

I know it is a personal choice, but the consequences of your choice affect other people, and so I now ride in my SNELL tested hat. I am a vet student and think I've got quite a good brain inside my skull and I'd quite like to keep it that way!

 

[nikkimariet]

No quirky, YOU didn't say whether you were talking about pro riders. Other posters on this thread have been discussing am & pro riders and even their own actions, you made a comment that could have and has been taken how you may or may not have meant it.

 

[Ranyhyn]

My opinion is, literally on their head be it.

They are adults and as such the law curently allows them to make the choice. What I really hate is the stance that they "set a bad example".. Sorry but I grew up watching people ride without hats and a) I made my own mind up and b) if I had have decided to not wear my hat my mother would have slapped my arse so hard I would have never presumed to do it again Kids are succeptible to LOTS of role models in this world - they watch adults drive cars - should they not do that just in case they try too? No, they know the rules, just the same with hats.