Riding hats - should it feel like that?

Happy Ponies

Happy Ponies

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So I've had my riding hat (gatehouse hs1) for about 6 months now. It's the only skull which I've found to fit my head properly without pinching at the back.

Only a few months after having it I took a slight tumble when the horse I was riding got spooked by a cardboard box in the wind causing us to part company as he went the other way. I did not hit my head until after the rest of me was on the floor and it came down slowly as I punched myself in the face. Ever since then it's felt a bit tighter but I can't decide if it's coincidence or the hat has been damaged or my heads grown.

I was wondering if anyone else has had similar happenings as I really can't spend the money on another one realistically as I don't feel I should have had 4 hats in 6 years of riding...
 
No experience with this but really there is no 'correct' amount of hats per years of riding, if you're worried I would replace. What price your safety after all?
 
How many hats you buy tends to depend on how much you fall off .
If I thought my hat felt different after a fall I would replace it ,no messing you have only one head .
 
Only twice have I fallen onto my head, once properly and the other I ploughed into the ground. If I ride for a bit the feeling becomes less noticeable so I also wondered if it was just the hat taking longer to adjust to my head shape?
 
Sorry nothing useful to add... but I did have a chuckle about you punching yourself in the face. I know I shouldn't.. I must be in a weird state of mind tonight! It isn't a full moon is it??
 
I find it funny too! Problem with wearing glasses is that it hurts more but it's definitely not a normal thing I don't think
 
No one ever catches my falls on camera, even if I reenact it there is a very small possibility that I could have hit it enough to cause impact due to the arena having good footing
 
I echo the comments to replace your hat.

I had a fall in September last year, horse and I came down together after a small jump. I hit the ground face first, very, very slowly and gently. My glasses were not damaged, I had a tiny graze on my nose. Not winded, not knocked out - but there was a "scratch" on the outside of my hat above my left eye.

I only have one head - so my hat was replaced and sent off to Champion. I was shocked when I saw the report. Everybody who saw the fall says that I did not hit my head. The report from Champioin says otherwise - the hat had compressed by over 50% where that scratch was.
 
With horse riding in general, better safe than sorry.
Hat damage isn't always visible to the naked eye, and by the sounds of it the hat has received some damage. If it feels any different than it did before then most likely it received some damage. It's best to replace it really, a defective hat can't provide you with the same protection and it can mean a difference between a headache or a serious concussion. Or if you're unlucky, worse.
 
See the thing is, I can't quite remember how it felt before, I can always remeber it being a little tighter but the next size up was too lose and I needed a skull really in preparation for college in September. I think I've been putting my hat on too far forward as it has been resting basically on top of my glasses and if I put it a little higher up it feels pretty much fine. I may go into countrywide and try on a new hat of the same style and size and see how that feels for comparison, I feel as if I'm being too paranoid
 
Do you put it on at the front and roll it back over the head? Or push it down from above (I think our local tack shop hat fitter (who is excellent) said to put it on from the front and roll it back over the head rather than push down from above to fit it properly
(daughter will know but she isn't here)
 
Replace it. Even light taps can damage them hell if you drop them you should replace them really not that anyone probably does.

I fell off a horse last year and on landing I hit my head lightly off the ground. It was enough to give me a headache though so although I had had the hat for about 9 years without any incident to it I replaced it. Can't be too careful.
 
Replace it, I wrote off my HS1 with a fall, fell onto headcam so force was compounded. I honestly believe the hat saved my life. Contacted gatehouse and they gave me a voucher for 20% off a new hat- had to be from a bricks and mortar shop rather than from online. So contact them and see what they say, worth a go.
 
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