Riding without a hat?

jacket potatoes or roast potatoes?

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It is only since coming to this country that I have actually worn a hat enough times to warrant possibly replacing it in the future! I wear a hat pretty much always now as I have to ride up a lane to my school, and I always wear a hat to hack in. If I had the school next to the yard then I can guarentee I wouldn't wear one 9 times out of 10.
 
Sorry folks but it's not quite true that to ride without a hat is the rider's decision alone. The consequences of riding without a hat can include Air Ambulance rescue, standard ambulance rescue, 10 hour neurosurgery, bed in a neurology ward for anything up to a year, home care, special housing needs etc etc etc. Who on earth do you think pays the thousands upon thousands of £££s involved here? The good old taxpayer. AND it can take up a bed and resources that someone else needed. I know we ALL have accidents on horses, in cars, crossing the street etc but where the accident is AVOIDABLE, I think we all have an obligation to take all reasonable, sensible precautions. There's no such thing as a free lunch folks.
 
I don't always wear my hat. i always do on young horses or horses i don't know also when jumping or hacking but not always if i'm schooling on my horse ot horses i ride alot. As Teapot says at a certain level you have to wear a tophat and to be honest my horse is better behaved at home than when i come out of a dressage arena. I know a tophat isn't going to protect me if i fall so IMO it's the same thing.
 
I think in some ways it pretty selfish, and that isnt aimed at anyone before you have ago at me. My friend was killed by a very simple fall and if she had an hat on the doc said she would of been saved. You say it your choice and yes it is but please just think of your family you could be leaving behind. It dont take two min just to put an hat on.
 
Funnily enough I was talking to my friend the other day about this.
We are moving to a new yard where we can ride around 100s of acres of farmland, no roadwork involved, I said to her it will be lovely to not have to wear a hat riding around the farm.
She said not riding with me you wont !!!!!

That told me.
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When I was a kid I did not always wear a hat UNTIL I suffered a head injury, since then I always wear one.

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Same here, always wear a skull cap now
 
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Sorry folks but it's not quite true that to ride without a hat is the rider's decision alone. The consequences of riding without a hat can include Air Ambulance rescue, standard ambulance rescue, 10 hour neurosurgery, bed in a neurology ward for anything up to a year, home care, special housing needs etc etc etc. Who on earth do you think pays the thousands upon thousands of £££s involved here? The good old taxpayer. AND it can take up a bed and resources that someone else needed. I know we ALL have accidents on horses, in cars, crossing the street etc but where the accident is AVOIDABLE, I think we all have an obligation to take all reasonable, sensible precautions. There's no such thing as a free lunch folks.

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I would say just to go against the grain here.. I am pretty sure most of us pay ££££££'s of pounds a year on taxes so not really a free lunch!?

Also I am not trying to be mean, but I think there are people out there who are at much more risk just being sat on a horse in the first place, than some more experienced people who ride without a hat on.

I wear a hat on youngsters/ buckers/rearers, hacking and competing. When I am training on the flat in the school I do not wear one. I find wearing a hat ALL day gets very uncomfortable and hot. (I ride anything up to 10 horses a day)

I would never encourage someone else to ride without a hat.
 
I am 14 now and do wear a hat for schooling and jumping, i do not however always wear one to ride to/from the feild which is a good 5/10 min walk on horse away. This is with only headcollar and leadrope
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Have always worn a hat, and as having a mad ponio daughter had to make a point to wear a hat as she wasnt even allowed to sit on a pony without one and you know what kids are like if she had caught me without mine she would of been quick to say if you dont wear one why should i, then again at our yard one of the rules are you must always wear a hat when riding your horse/pony even if its in or out to the field.
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The arguments for not wearing a hat here are the same that motorcyclists used to use when the helmst law was to be introduced.

It was argued that the expense to the NHS was extreme due to the non wearing of helmets. Possibly it should be that is a rider is injured whilst riding & no hat was being worn that the rider should be liable for the full expense of the NHS treatment received. That would be very expensive, Ambulance/ Air Ambulance call out, X rays, nurses & doctors time, anaethetic, operations, physiotherapy, bed & care whilst recoupertating etc.......

Possibly that would be a good enough reason for the wearing of headgear. Oh & severe penalties for anyone lying to authorities about someone wearing a helmet when in fact they had not been
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I would say I always wear a hat but I have forgotten to put it on a few times. Once I was taking a hack out at the riding school where my horse was stabled. I couldn't understand why everyone looked so horrified til one woman pointed out I had no hat on. Last winter I got half way round a hack before I worked out something wasn't quite right. I did feel quite vulnerable when I realised I didn't have it on though.

However for me its a matter of personal choice. I choose to wear one (when I remember!) as I don't think not wearing it is worth the risk but I wouldn't judge anyone else if they choose to make a different decision.
 
You also need to justify that decision to the rest of us who will indirectly pick up the tab for any medical treatment and long-term care in the event of you suffering a debilitating head injury. Unless of course, you intend to make no claim on the state in such an event.
 
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Sorry folks but it's not quite true that to ride without a hat is the rider's decision alone. The consequences of riding without a hat can include Air Ambulance rescue, standard ambulance rescue, 10 hour neurosurgery, bed in a neurology ward for anything up to a year, home care, special housing needs etc etc etc. Who on earth do you think pays the thousands upon thousands of £££s involved here? The good old taxpayer. AND it can take up a bed and resources that someone else needed. I know we ALL have accidents on horses, in cars, crossing the street etc but where the accident is AVOIDABLE, I think we all have an obligation to take all reasonable, sensible precautions. There's no such thing as a free lunch folks.

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Agree completely!
 
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I would say just to go against the grain here.. I am pretty sure most of us pay ££££££'s of pounds a year on taxes so not really a free lunch!?



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That's a good point, but say you were to recieve extensive brain injury. You could be paralysed, left in a vegetable state for the rest of your life. Who would care for you? Does the fact you've paid into the NHS mean you should take full advantage of that? when the NHS in many areas won't pay for simple breast cancer drugs for women??

It's a bit like saying it's okay to drink drive and cause yourself injury, or to speed, or drive without a seatbelt. It's not just YOU you have to think about, it's your family, the doctors and nurses and the strain on the NHS.

Many riders on here are good riders, with fab horses, but the impression given off to kids seems to be "I'm a good rider therefore I don't need a hat", and alot of teens just strive to be 'cool' and look like good riders, and do the same. That saddens me. No one is 100% safe.
 
Sometimes I don't wear a hat when I'm schooling Castle
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I always wear a hat when I ride Ali, whether I'm just schooling or hacking out, as he can be extremely unpredictable!
 
Agree completely. I always wear a hat and made my daughters wear one too. Also what about your family and friends. hats definitely minimise the risks.
 
I wear a hat, without fail.


You know, it is the personal choice of the rider whether they choose to wear a hat or not.


I personally choose to be safe.
 
Sorry about the multiple posts on this question, but I've worked through the threads and answered as I've gone.

Yes, the subject does come up from time to time and all of the same old arguments are always trotted out.

I feel exposed if I get into a car and I don't put a seatbelt on. Similarly I would feel exposed if I got on horse, or in some circumstances handling a horse, without wearing a well fitting properly secured approved standard hat. As part of the voluntary work I do I look at horse related accidents in the UK and around the world. Unfortunately, there are many fatalities that could have been prevented through the wearing of a properly secured hat. America has substantially higher rates of head injury related fatalities than the UK, simply because less people wear riding hats. I've also seen accidents where people have been rendered unconscious through kicks to the head when wearing riding hats. Concussed and very groggy afterwards they recovered. Without a hat they would be dead.

My heart sinks every time I read about a fatality that probably could have been prevented through wearing a properly secured hat. My wife has said to me "I don't know how you can get on a horse knowing about all of the accidents happening out there". She prefers not to know about them. I enjoy riding and handling my horses. But I use all the information I receive to make balanced judgements about the risk. My exposure to the information is high and it certainly modified my behaviour in trying to keep the risk as low as possible. I have a wife and kids (and animals!) and I owe it to them to do so.

In a recent edition of Horse & Hound one of the columnists was sporting an injured wrist (I think -- I can't remember completely the details offhand). The columnist said it was a kick that waited 30 years to come.

I think that many accidents are caused through a lack of knowledge, vanity and complacency.

As a previous post asked - If you don't wear riding hat then why is it? If there is a comfort issue, then speak up and let the manufacturers know.

Anyone under the age of 14 is legally obliged to wear a riding hat when riding on the road. Many people think that is the only legal requirement. It is not. Under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 -- which simple calculation shows that this isn't a new legislation but has been in place for 33 years -- put simply, employers have a duty of care to their employees and employees are required to co-operate with employers to allow them to discharge their legal duties. Therefore, it would be expected that employees wear riding hats when identified by the risk assessment. This is likely to include riding. In the event of an accident where it was shown that appropriate measures were not taken to ensure the safety of an employee, a criminal prosecution might follow. This is a simplistic view of the legal position, let alone the conditions imposed by insurers.

To the 54% who ride without hats, the majority will probably continue throughout their lives without ever suffering a head injury. If we extrapolate that 54% to the 4.2 million people who regularly ride in the UK, then the likelihood is that some will be seriously debilitated if not killed through a head injury that could have been prevented.

Yes, the choice is therefore those who are individuals who fall outside the categories mentioned above. My choice is to wear a properly secured approved standard riding hat!
 
I have to agree with Matt on this one. I pay taxes and money into the NHS and its there incase I want to use it. My money goes to pay for all sorts of people like murders, drug addicts, smokers and I am none of those! I dont moan about that so why should people moan about the NHS treating me if I had an accident.

My head, my choice! I choose not to wear a hat unless I am on a strange or young horse. I never hack out but if I did I would always wear a hat. I had a friend who had someone drive into the back of her, totally not her fault, and she ended up in hospital. If she hadnt of been wearing her hat she probably wouldnt be alive.
If anyone wants to know my reasons for my choice then I will happily share.
 
I have to confess I have not read all the posts.
Once or twice I have ridden without a hat. In hindsight, I really am horrified how stupid I was being. I had a really bad fall a couple of yrs ago, sustained a horrible injury and since then I have become much more safety concious.
I have to say I really cannot see any reason not to wear a hat that stands up against the possible consequences of not wearing one.
It makes me really angry to see pictures of riders in magazines or horse sale ads without a hat. Thoroughly irresponsible. It's pretty selfish when you consider what could happen if someone without a hat took a nasty fall and ended up in a permanent state of disability, or even death. There are plenty of people around that person that would suffer as a result of that person's ignorance.
Sorry, but this is an issue I feel esp strongly about.
 
I agree that it is personal choice, but I do think that if you had an accident, there are many people it could affect (family who look after you in your vegetable state, or your horse who has to be looked after by someone else and not ridden whilst you recover for a few days... also, any ambulance that is rescuing you cannot be rescuing someone else...etc etc).
A point that hasnt been mentioned much is the effect on others, e.g. children, who may see it as acceptable or cool to ride without a hat if they see others doing it. A note has gone up at our yard reminding people that they have to wear a hat whilst riding because some of the kids have started copying (even riding up the main road in headcollars with no hats!)
 
My daughter was at camp on our new horse (10 yrs old, experienced and lovely mare) we'd had her 9 weeks. She humped her off and kicked her in the head, apparently she did it deliberateyl I didn't see it. All I can surmise is that the horse was shocked by a new "item" on the ground, or, a shocking piece of "advice" I have been offered, is that my daughter annoyed the mare, by yanking her in the mouth a couple of times (unforgivable I know.)

Her new Champion Helmet saved her life. We immediately bought the same again and never again will I ride without a good helmet.
 
I have never ridden wihtout a hat but then I have only really ridden in riding schools etc and have had to. I personally would not ride without a hat. I am far too aware of the risks. I do appreciate that some choose not to and that is their decision. I do not think they're 'stupid' though I do think it's dangerous.
I have a friend who is a very experienced rider. One day she was riding one of her horses that she knew inside out - had bred him, backed him , broken him in etc. She was riding out of the yard to the school as he had done pretty much every day of his ridden life, he spooked at something, she came off and her hat broke in half. She cannot remember what actually happened but if she hadn't been wearing her hat it would have been her skull. There are hundreds of stories like this, as there are stories of people who have never worn a hat and never fallen off. My point is horses are unpredictable and no matter how well you know them or how good a rider you are accidents can happen and you only have one brain. That is how I see it, others obviously see it differently. I don't necessarily understand or agree with them but I do respect their choice.
 
This is probably a freak accident but a year ago my friends brother was out hunting, and he went to jump a wall, but the horse refused. He flew off into the wall, and landed head first. The impact of the helmut made his neck snap. The doctor said if he had not been wearing a hat his head would have taken the impact and he would have survived. This is only what the doctor said, and im sure that lots of other things could have happened but i just thought is tell you.

I often dont wear a hat, mostly because its so hot and riding without one makes me feel more exhilarated. Mind you thats only when riding in the fields at home, i will always wear one out on a hack. I seriously do think it is up to the rider, if they fall off and hurt themselves then it is there own fault (i just hope it never happens to me!) There are a lot more dangerous sports out there that have less protection and much higher risk of injury yet they dont have to wear all sorts of protection, only if they want to.
 
I couldn't care less if people choose to ride without a hat on, its completely a personal decision. I do wear a hat if he has tack on, but think nothing of galloping across the field bareback with a headcollar and rope and no hat. Its just habit that I wear it for riding, but I don't bother for lunging etc.
 
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