Riding without a hat

Have you ridden without a hat?

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well that's me told, nice talking to you anyway jessica xx




ETS - do you remember the thing people used to say when kids "I know you are but what am I"?
Was so tempted to use that there but managed to resist lol :D
 
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What people do with their own hat/head is up to them IMO. I would never ride without one, but then again I ride a TB who is scared of his own shadow, and constantly trips over his own feet.

Although I do object to adverts/pictures with people not wearing them. I don't think they should be able to glamorise not wearing hats on TV or in magazines.
 
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jessicabeau1 said:
IMO I think you should all get a life and worry about yourselves and not judging other peoples choices, especially you 'april' seen as you think they are chavvy or 'a bit thick' if they dont wear a hat! think you got your own f*cking issues!
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*chokes on ribena* :D:D:D
 
Puppy said:
*chokes on ribena* :D:D:D
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I have many, many issues. The current big one is that I want to wear a strapless dress out tonight and I have tan lines so am trying to 'paint' them in with fake tan... it's not going as I'd have hoped to be honest!
 
Ally_F said:
What people do with their own hat/head is up to them IMO.
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Hmm, but as said up there somewhere, it's probably not the rider with the bashed-in head who sits there obliviously drooling who will really really suffer, it's the family who get a previously-vibrant person back as a corpse or, even worse, as a vegetable... I NEVER want my mother to have to wipe my bum again, thanks, i'm sure she did enough of it when I was a baby! ;) ;)

From this month's Horse magazine interview with Paul Tapner:

"He... always wears his Gatehouse crash hat. He has a friend who was severely brain-damaged after falling without a hat - woe betide anyone who gets on a horse at the yard, even for two minutes, without one."

So, those who don't wear a hat - do you think you're a better, more secure jockey than Paul Tapner then?! Good luck to you, you delusional muppets. ;) ;)
 
_April_ said:
I have many, many issues. The current big one is that I want to wear a strapless dress out tonight and I have tan lines so am trying to 'paint' them in with fake tan... it's not going as I'd have hoped to be honest!
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Ah, what a shame that you're not nearer to me, I could lend you some of my camouflage make up! :D That would be the camouflage make up that I get on prescription to help cover up the scars on my face where it got kicked by two horse feet :rolleyes:
 
Crikey, it's just aswell me and OH don't get so riled about riding hat preferences or we'd be having fist fights all the time :D

Do remember that the UK is very safety conscious in comparison to other countries with regard to many things (don't get me started on roadworks over here:rolleyes:). Seat belts, drink driving, construction sites, etc etc And, obviously, this aint a bad thing.

As I said before I always wear my hat and always have as it is how I have been educated (maybe indoctrinated ;)) but at our riding school here, it's no suprise to see kids flying around without a hat, I don't see adults wearing them much at all to do flatwork. I think they all think I'm eccentric when I wear it in a riding lessons - until they see horsey throwing a wobbly and me plopping on the floor.

With regard to the NHS well cripes, we'll all give up cakes, sport, smoking, boozing, KFC and wind up bogging them down with a nation of depressed people if that's the case.

There's many non-horsey folk out there who aren't happy to paying for the broken arms/clavicles/necks etc experienced by horse riders full-stop and consider that just getting on the horse and riding it (with or without hat) is an unnaccetable risk and not to be paid for by the NHS.

As I say, I believe in "la bombe" (hee hee french for crash hat - love it, sounds much more cool) but if others don't want to - so be it, as long as I don't have to wipe up the dribble if the worst happens ;)
 
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Prince33Sp4rkle said:
i cant actually remember the last time i came off, and sorry but i dont know of any horses that have randomly just tripped and gone right over on a decent surface(whilst schooling on the flat)
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My very well behaved 13.2hh was schooling in the new indoor arena at our yard, and he tripped and flipped right over. He just put his hoof down funny coming round a corner, so, although this may be extremely rare, it can happen.

As soon as I turned 14, I stopped wearing a hat, however, after a couple of consequential painful headaches, I now do :D all the time
 
lol Saucisson - my OH and I have had loads of 'debates' on why he should wear a cycle helmet and high viz!

I've worn him down now hehe - mostly by telling him I have no intention of wiping his bum for him if anything happened which could have been avoided by simple precautions.


I know I am anal guys, I used to be a risk manager - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it lol xx
 
Ally_F said:
What people do with their own hat/head is up to them IMO.
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Yeah fine up to them, as long as they don't expect a state funded ambulance, to bring paramedics who are trained and paid by the state to scrape them up off the floor. And as long as they don't expect to go to an NHS hospital to be treated with drugs, and equipment funded by the state. By doctors who are paid by the state, and trained at the expense of the state.

The NHS is broke, it is a financial black hole, why do we think that it is ok for people to take stupid irresponsible risks that potentially cost the NHS millions?????

Caring for someone with a catastrophic brain injury does quite literally cost millions. Have the people who ride without hats not thought how much better spent that money could be?? How many life saving cancer drugs could be bought if people didn't fall off horses without hats, crash cars without seat belts etc

At work I deal with costing care and equipment for people who have suffered serious injuries and it is really mind boggling what it costs to treat someone with brain damage.

Then there are the benefits that they will receive while they are unable to work, the carers allowance that will be paid to their family, the tax they won't pay etc.

Your irresponsibility affects us all.
 
As IIRC broken necks and spine injuries are more frequent injuries amongst riders than catastrophic brain injury, even though some brain injuries are caused whilst the rider was wearing a hat (take a bow MrsMozart!) surely by your argument we should all give up riding as the risk of serious injury is too great for the NHS to be able to bear the burden?

Just thinking on it, in the case of "fault" RTA injuries the NHS can claim back from the "at fault" party's insurance the cost of treatment. Presumably if one came off a horse whilst behaving in an irresponsible fashion the NHS could sue one's insurance company for a contribution to the costs of treatment and care, at least proportional to the negligence shown?

In which case a rider, with insurance, suffering catastrophic brain injury need cost the NHS very little.
 
jemima_too said:
As IIRC broken necks and spine injuries are more frequent injuries amongst riders than catastrophic brain injury, even though some brain injuries are caused whilst the rider was wearing a hat (take a bow MrsMozart!) surely by your argument we should all give up riding as the risk of serious injury is too great for the NHS to be able to bear the burden?

Just thinking on it, in the case of "fault" RTA injuries the NHS can claim back from the "at fault" party's insurance the cost of treatment. Presumably if one came off a horse whilst behaving in an irresponsible fashion the NHS could sue one's insurance company for a contribution to the costs of treatment and care, at least proportional to the negligence shown?

In which case a rider, with insurance, suffering catastrophic brain injury need cost the NHS very little.
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The legislation is restricted to RTAs, although it is recently been widened to include accidents at work, but in both cases only where a successful claim has been made against someone elses insurance.

Further the legislation only allows for recovery of certain costs on a tarriff basis, not the full cost. For example costs of GP appointments aren't included.

Personally I think the line is drawn where a simple safety measure could have prevented the injury. That is often where the line is drawn in cases of employers liability under the common law or the regulations there are tests of reasonable practicability in many circumstances. So riding in itself is ok, same as other sports and passtimes, but you should be expected to take reasonable precautions to protect yourself and others, so wearing safety equipment not aiming golf balls at passing pedestrians etc.

Although for the record I'm not suggesting that people not wearing hats shouldn't get NHS treatment, more that it isn't a case of, their personal choice that us busy bodies should keep our noses out of, but that their choice not to take a reasonable and proportionate safety measure affects us all because of what it costs the state.
 
I am largely confused as to why you would not wear a hat? I guess the reason most frequently cited is that your head gets too hot.

In that case, does the rest of you not get too hot as well? What about your legs in long leather boots and jods?

Would you therefore ride in a bikini?
 
It's Friday afternoon, flippancy is allowed! I'm just glad there is no one of consequence around the office as I am in an exceptionally sarcastic and flippant mood! Heck, I am in NL - if I am in here, chances are someone is not getting off lightly with something, as I rarely enter here in a sane frame of mind!
 
kerilli said:
Hmm, but as said up there somewhere, it's probably not the rider with the bashed-in head who sits there obliviously drooling who will really really suffer, it's the family who get a previously-vibrant person back as a corpse or, even worse, as a vegetable... I NEVER want my mother to have to wipe my bum again, thanks, i'm sure she did enough of it when I was a baby! ;) ;)

From this month's Horse magazine interview with Paul Tapner:

"He... always wears his Gatehouse crash hat. He has a friend who was severely brain-damaged after falling without a hat - woe betide anyone who gets on a horse at the yard, even for two minutes, without one."

So, those who don't wear a hat - do you think you're a better, more secure jockey than Paul Tapner then?! Good luck to you, you delusional muppets. ;) ;)
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Good post, couldn't agree more.
 
Those arguing that everyone should be wearing a hat - out of interest do you wear a body protector at all time when riding? Spinal injuries can be just as life-destroying as head injuries, and I'll bet the majority of you don't wear a BP when riding - why not? Why not take every precaution? You've made your own mind up and weighed up the risks - just as those who (rightly or wrongly) decide not to wear a hat. And as for a drain on NHS resources - why should anyone be allowed to do dangerous sports? be fat? smoke? all a drain on NHS resources. Loads of people have injuries XC using up valuble resources; in their hat and body protector are they at less of a risk than a dressage rider schooling hatless at home.

Personally I always wear a hat when riding; and being knocked out wearing a crash hat a month a go has reinforced that. However I do wear my Patey for competition and schooling on 'safe' horses - having weighed up the risks.
 
I've ridden without a hat when I used to take rides out in Majorca. Riding for 8 hours a day, mid summer, with a hat on landed me in hospital with heat stroke :(

If the temperature is reasonable though I see no reason not to wear one...
 
Personally yes, I always wear a hat, fallen on my noggin too many times to risk it! I also have a husband & family that love me & therefore would not want to put them through the heartache if I were to have a serious head injury because of not wearing a hat.
I haven't read all the replies to this post but have read a few & all I can say is that those who are so stupid/arrogant (still debating which is more accurate) & believe they don't have to or are far too good to ever come off a horse then that's their choice. I do however believe they should pay for private health care as why should the NHS pay for their idiocy? Of course I assume without a hat private healthcare would be void anyway...
Horses are unpredictable, even the steadiest of mounts can spook, trip, slip etc and I can't believe anyone is willing to risk the consequences.
 
I ride at a RS so I always wear a hat infact I can imagine how strange it would feel for me not to ride without a hat! I have always ridden without a bp for a few times, but it felt so weird that now wear my bp everytime I ride as well :)
 
Having trained as an AI and had a sibling die (age 34) from a simple fall (not from a horse) and just 'banging' his head, watching the life support machine being turned off and sitting for 8 hours watching him slowly slip away. Would I ride without a hat??? Not on your life!!! It really isn't worth it, however good a rider you think you are!!!!
 
saturdaygirl said:
Those arguing that everyone should be wearing a hat - out of interest do you wear a body protector at all time when riding? Spinal injuries can be just as life-destroying as head injuries, and I'll bet the majority of you don't wear a BP when riding - why not? Why not take every precaution? You've made your own mind up and weighed up the risks - just as those who (rightly or wrongly) decide not to wear a hat. And as for a drain on NHS resources - why should anyone be allowed to do dangerous sports? be fat? smoke? all a drain on NHS resources. Loads of people have injuries XC using up valuble resources; in their hat and body protector are they at less of a risk than a dressage rider schooling hatless at home.

Personally I always wear a hat when riding; and being knocked out wearing a crash hat a month a go has reinforced that. However I do wear my Patey for competition and schooling on 'safe' horses - having weighed up the risks.
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I do actually!:) I just see it as protecting my own body.
 
I do wear one, but I think that people should remember that on the continent, and in most of the USA, wearing a riding hat (as in protective one) is seen as rather an oddity except at competitions. Also, at high school dressage level, people are required to wear top hats , which don't protect at all really.

Interestingly, I have found that people in countries where hats are not worn, generally do not tolerate bad behaviour under saddle at all in their horses, preferring to send those with 'issues' for meat, or to ship over here. They also don't ride ponies as much, and have perfected the warmbloods with a calmer, more sane temperament. On top of that, the training methods can be harsher, to produce a horse which is instantly obedient, and riding training really emphasizes a good seat. I know that's a generalisation, and have seen a fair few nut jobs on the continent, but they were usually either in the hands of people who didn't know any better, or were in their 'last chance saloon'. My old instructor in Belgium never wore a hat, and considered my British taught seat on a horse to be the worst he'd ever seen in his life.

So yes, wearing a hat is better than not, but I do wonder sometimes if we tolerate dangerous horse behaviour in this country because of our safety gear, that we simply would not if we did not have it. And by that, I mean anything that would cause you to fall off - bucking included. Perhaps, in addition to wearing hats, we as a country should look at the way we train our horses, and the behaviour we put up with, in order to make horse riding safer for the next generation?
 
Also, at high school dressage level, people are required to wear top hats , which don't protect at all really.
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You can actually wear a proper helmet. Allison Springer wore one at the 4* in Kentucky and some Grand Prix riders in the US have been wearing them too.
 
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