Wearing a hat and head injuries

Have you had a head injury...

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Hevs said:
Whilst handling, no hat - got dragged 60' along the yard resulting in a trip in the ambulance and 4 years of surgery to repair the hole in my head. You want photos - I can show you photos that will make everyone want to wear a hat everytime they go near a horse :D
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Do you always wear a hat for handling now? I didn't used to but one day when someone called for help unloading a horse, I headed for the lorry and then something inside me went me turn back to the tack room and get my hat. It is a good thing I did as the horse launched me head first off the top side of the lorry ramp and I landed on my head on the concrete. Even with my hat on I saw stars. I suffer from a stiff neck and injured sacroilliac region two years on. But now I always try to remember to put my hat on when handling horses. It is a nuisance at times and it is so tempting just to forget it, but I try hard not to.
 
Managed this summer to give myself a reasonably serious rattle whilst trying to sedate Nits, no hat. She ran over the top of me and caught me with something (knee/foot possibly) didn't knock me out but after two days of throwing up and sleeping constantly I went to the doctor.

No serious damage but had given myself a pretty good concussion.
 
I can't say I've personally had any head injuries (Thank goodness!!!) but I've witnessed one and heard of another that I'm sure would have ended very very VERY badly without a hat.

The one I saw happened when a girl was asked to canter to the back of the ride in a lesson, at my old yard. All was well untill the horse bolted and she got her foot caught in the stirrup. I saw her head bounce along the fence posts, she must have hit about 7 or 8 before her foot came loose. I don't know the full story of what happened afterwards, but I do know she was fine after medical attention.

The other that my friend witnessed was a girl fell off after her horse stumbled in the school. She went over it's head, landed and since she was fine, she sat up. The horse hadn't stopped and tried to jump her, kicking her in the back of the head. She was seriously injured, but again, was fine after medical attention.
 
I hate these threads. They put me off going near horses, lol. No really they do! I must be getting old :( Or are we all just nuts?
 
Fell off, horse kicked my head in passing and the chin strap cut my chin so deep I had to have three stitches in it and I was concussed. Hat was damaged so heaven only knows what state my head would have been in if I hadn't been wearing it.

Horse died while I was on him. I have no memory of hitting the ground but I know that I "lost" an hour and a half from when the horse started to collapse to when I came to. Concussion of course, pretty severe. I would certainly have been dead before anyone found me without the hat, we were out in the hills away from anywhere. Scary thing is it was very hot and I almost went out without it - you know, very quiet horse you know really well, kind of thing? I've never ridden without a hat since.

Talking of hats, why can I buy a hi viz bike helmet; a hi viz ski helmet; a hi viz motorcycle helmet but

no high viz riding hat - come ON manufacturers, where are you?????
 
Santa Paws said:
Fell off, horse kicked my head in passing and the chin strap cut my chin so deep I had to have three stitches in it and I was concussed. Hat was damaged so heaven only knows what state my head would have been in if I hadn't been wearing it.

Horse died while I was on him. I have no memory of hitting the ground but I know that I "lost" an hour and a half from when the horse started to collapse to when I came to. Concussion of course, pretty severe. I would certainly have been dead before anyone found me without the hat, we were out in the hills away from anywhere. Scary thing is it was very hot and I almost went out without it - you know, very quiet horse you know really well, kind of thing? I've never ridden without a hat since.

Talking of hats, why can I buy a hi viz bike helmet; a hi viz ski helmet; a hi viz motorcycle helmet but

no high viz riding hat - come ON manufacturers, where are you?????
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You poor thing. I can't think of anything worse than a horse dying underneath you.
 
Santa Paws said:
Fell off, horse kicked my head in passing and the chin strap cut my chin so deep I had to have three stitches in it and I was concussed. Hat was damaged so heaven only knows what state my head would have been in if I hadn't been wearing it.

Horse died while I was on him. I have no memory of hitting the ground but I know that I "lost" an hour and a half from when the horse started to collapse to when I came to. Concussion of course, pretty severe. I would certainly have been dead before anyone found me without the hat, we were out in the hills away from anywhere. Scary thing is it was very hot and I almost went out without it - you know, very quiet horse you know really well, kind of thing? I've never ridden without a hat since.

Talking of hats, why can I buy a hi viz bike helmet; a hi viz ski helmet; a hi viz motorcycle helmet but

no high viz riding hat - come ON manufacturers, where are you?????
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That sounds absolutely horrible, thank god you put your hat on!

You can buy hi viz hat silks/covers and also smaller hat bands.
(If you wear a hat with a fixed peak luna rider do covers that fit over the hat and peak and are also waterproof)
 
Wagtail said:
You poor thing. I can't think of anything worse than a horse dying underneath you.
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Thanks Wagtail, it certainly isn't up there as the most fun I've ever had riding :(

He was only 6 years old too, his aorta burst, just like that showjumper recently.
 
Travelling at speed on a horse I hadn't ridden before, decided to go for the 'inelegant flying dismount' - ended up face first in the mud. Got up, got back on and thought nothing of it. Cleaned up daughter's new dressage hat which I was wearing at the time (without her knowledge) and put it back in box.

Four months later suffering from continual headaches I go to doctors and he sends me to hospital for tests. ended up with being diagnosed with a fractured skull and a cracked shoulderblade from the fall.

Immediately took daughters hat to be checked - it was fine, absolutely nothing wrong with it ?????
 
I have voted but I don't think it counts as everything seems to come into contact with my face so not the bit protected by my hat! my class mates sis very kindly design me a hat with a cage on the front after I spent a goo 3 weeks with 2 black eyes and a nose the size of a beef tomato.

I fell under the pony I was jumping and he carried on going kneeing me in the face I remember most of it and was perfectly lucid but I was spraying blood all over the yard so they insisted I went to the doc's. All the medical attention needed was a note to carry in my pocket to say I had had a recent head injury in case of delayed symptoms or I passed out unfortunately there was nothing they could do with my nose as although it was broken I had obliterated all the cartilage it still gets stuck at a funny angle sometimes :o

Got run over my a moody mare recently, she head butted me in the face knocked me flying and proceeded to continue over the top of me! Not to bad considering I walked away with another black eye a lump the size of an egg on my face and a lovely red buckle imprint and a fat ankle which i thought was hilarious as I frogmarched said mare back to the yard.

I think I have got off quite lightly never been concussed or knocked unconscious. I always wear a hat and as I get older I am definitely more inclined to wear a hat handling. I become very aware of how close my head it to walls and feet etc.
 
It can happen so easily. I came off at canter in the school and landed on my head. Thought I was fine but later started to talk rubbish. Thankfully OH is a doctors. Was concussed for several days but if I hadn't been wearing a hat it would have been a heck of a lot worse. Later found crack in my helmet....that would have been my skull!
 
Wearing Hat Needing medical Attention

I did an emergency exit from a bolting horse who was heading towards water hit deck bounced a few times and ended up in water with thrashing horse where I got kicked in the head.

Can not remember a thing from decision to bail, (which was all very cool calm and collected) to waking up briefly to find a nice man dressed in Green leaning over me with a big helicopter in the background .

Was left with severe concussion and a blindness in my right eye which lasted for over a month, still have headaches now but have had the full gamut of head-scans and tests and been told all is ok and it is one of those things. My neurological Consultant said that had I not been wearing a hat I would have been either a vegetable or dead.

Am now a hat evangelist.
 
I voted with hat and needed medical attention. I rode to a hunter trials with a friend with no intention of competing as I was 3 months pregnant but when her pairs partner didn't turn up I was 'persuaded' to help out. My horse bolted 3/4 of the way round got near the finish and spooked at nothing, he went left I went right and landed right beside the on duty ambulance! My hat had the peak ripped off where I slid along the ground and a seriously big dent, I had a concussion, a black eye, 3 broken ribs ( 1 twice ) and a broken elbow. I hate to think what would have happened without the hat! Oh...the baby was fine, nine years on he's horse mad!
 
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voted for 'while riding, with hat, not serious enough to seek medical attention'. although, had i had the opportunity to go to hospital i probably would have. i was doing a week's work exp at a well known rider's event yard and was on a hack with one of the grooms on a young but very quiet horse that i'd ridden before. 10 minutes after leaving both horses spooked at monsters in the hedge, span and took off back towards home. just a silly kind of accident that happens all the time. i fell out the side door and landed really heavily on my back on very hard ploughed ground, shortly followed by my head and did some kind of minor whiplash type injury to my neck. didn't black out, throw up or forget anything but i saw stars for a while and had to sit down after getting up as otherwise i would have fallen over. no visible damage to my hat. i cannot even imagine how hard you must have to hit your head to obviously damage your hat and knock yourself out. yard owner's husband saw the accident happen and didn't even make sure we were both ok, poor other girl had her arm trodden on and was shouted at for crying. i was more concerned with how much my back hurt until that evening when i had a massive nosebleed and realised i actually hit my head jolly hard. had i been at home, i would have gone to hospital at that point. unfortunately everyone was a bit unfriendly and being such a little fish in a big pond i didn't feel like i could ask to be taken to A&E. having read some of these, in future i won't be so timid. kept having nosebleeds for the rest of the week, but just put that down to the hot dry weather and dust in the end.

have never ridden without a hat before and never will, it's like putting your seatbelt on in the car. it's automatic and the idea that it might look 'uncool' has never really crossed my mind.

didn't vote for all the times i've been headbutted by accident while handling (hatless 99% of the time), don't think that really counts!
 
a pony i was trying when i was a kid went up and over backwards with me, i woke up the next day in hospital, quite major concussion iirc. good job i had a hat on...
been concussed once since, while wearing a crash hat.
i've ridden without a hat in the past but won't ever do so again. i'm also a stickler for wearing one when clipping, loading one i don't know or trust to walk straight in like a lamb, etc etc.
 
Some interesting tales on this thread, will read through properly in a min, but mine goes like this.

Chose option 3, was riding my then new girl (Saf) cantering along an uphill golf course bridleway, no idea what happened but she either tripped or lost her footing and fell over onto her side, I hit my head on the floor and thought she was going to roll right over and squash me, thankfully she didn't. Think I got knocked out for a couple of seconds, as when I came to my senses Saf was back upright and grazing. My sister was riding with me, and I managed to get myself up, feeling a bit peculiar, but insisted we carried on with our hack. Rode to the top of the hill, then realised I really wasn't well. Thankfully we were only about 10 minutes from the stables, so rode home (had to cross a busy main road where Saf would normally fidget, and she was an angel, must have known I wasn't right!) Got taken to hospital and had concussion, stayed in for observation overnight and went back home right as rain the next day. Probably would have been much worse if I wasn't wearing a hat!
 
Came off my bomb proof boy, and can remember laying on the grass stroking it, thinking it was lovely and green..
Finished the ride etc. Then had 3 weeks worth of being very wobbley, used to get off the toilet, (ahem, sorry!), and run head first into the toilet door!:D
 
I've had quite a few riding, with hat, not serious enough to seek medical attention

I did have one once where I fell off, landed on the back of my head, got knocked out, came too, jumped back on and carried on even tho my eyesight was off and I had a splitting headache, rang my parents who to this day have no idea what I was talking about so they took me to A&E where I was diagnosed with concussion... oops!

the doctor swears my hat saved me from at least a fractured skull
 
Wagtail said:
I hate these threads. They put me off going near horses, lol. No really they do! I must be getting old :( Or are we all just nuts?
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Haha seriously after reading this thread I feel a little queasy! and I can't help feel it is like tempting fate for an accident to happen.

I personally *touchwood :((( * never hurt myself or fallen off badly and I never ride without a hat and I most def never will after reading these stories, some of them are terrifying.
 
Years and years ago I went on a hack with fellow grooms on some of the horses from the yard I worked at. I remember we set off accross a field and I had a feeling something was going to go wrong - they were on the big horses, because I was small and light I was on the pony who couldn't keep up.

Not sure what happened, other grooms found me laid in the field semi concious. I remember leading the pony back to the yard and not knowing where I was. I couldn't even remember my name. YO's son took me to hospital but as YO was out couldn't get in the office with my next of kin details. I didn't have a clue who I was!

I was kept in overnight with concussion, hat had a big crack in it.

I have had lots of near misses while handling but have luckily injured other parts of me. I perhaps should wear a hat while handling, this thread has made me think and I probably will.
 
I have been knocked out many times coming off horses. I had one particularly bad fall which resulted in my spending several days in hospital. Even though I always wore a hat I am sure it has affected my ability to remember though.

Many many years ago my family bought a pony from a friend for my sister, so the pony was well known to us before we bought it. The pony was absolutely brilliant and I can honestly say she never once spooked with my sister or the friend and was fantastic in every way. She was truly the most bombproof horse I have ever come across. However, we sold her to another family and a few months later the pony spooked and knocked over the young girl who was leading her. She wasn't wearing a hat and she hit her head when she fell and was killed. It was a really really awful thing to have happened.

All of this makes me wear a hat no matter that people (even nowadays) think it so odd to put on a hat when you are 'just' leading a pony you handle several times a day and know well.
 
I went for option 3 riding with hat and trip to hospital

First incident was years ago, was riding a work horse out behind the owners driving two mares, trotting down a country lane and the horse just lost his footing on a slippery patch. We both went down some how i managed not to get my leg trapped under him, cuts on face, hands, elbows, knees. I had images of me being found in a ditch walking him back to the yard because everything was so hazy.

2008 i was having a flat work lesson, asked my young mare for canter transition and she kicked the side board scared the pants off her into a bronco fit. Stayed on for a while before seeing the school fence coming up sharpish, quick pull to the left as didn't want to land on fence and i came out the right side door. Aparently i fell down her right shoulder, eitherway i don't remember coming off but was only out for a short while when i came to wish a stabbing type of sharp pain in my head. I did get back on and felt okish until i had gone home, showered and then felt rather unwell. Went to A&E and was told whiplash, concussion, oh and had my leg trodden on in the process of falling off! I had leg and neck x-rayed and luckily nothing showed up on those but felt rather poorly for a while but was back at work on the Monday.

Never ride without a hat even if i'm only going bareback down to the field to turn out, anything can happen.
 
I've never even entertained the thought of NOT wearing a hat whilst riding tbh. I never will.
I have seen an accident involving a hat but had the girl not been wearing the hat, she probably would have died.
Basically the RS I was working at bought a new pony and they got one of the grooms (she was about 18) to try the horse out. Anyway long story short, the girl comes off the horse, hits the floor face first and the peak of her hat didn't snap, but just held her head in place and her body kept moving. The paramedic said she was lucky not to have broken her neck.
 
kerilli said:
I suspect that those of us who posted that we've had a head injury bad enough to need medical attention, sustained while wearing a hat, wouldn't be here to post at all if we hadn't been wearing a hat...
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correct. I needed CPR ( 4 tries) then a life support system for quite a while as I was unable to breathe/ function unaided, after which, it took 2 years or more to learn how to walk,dress, feed, communicate etcetera etcetera.
Thank Goodness I wore a hat.
Quality of life is different, but still enjoyable :D

Merry Christmas :D
 
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As a child we rode the ponies to and from the field in rope halters and bareback and never wore hats. Came off to many times to count and apart from the odd broken limb or two, never received a head injury! This must have been by the grace of God.

I have had many concussions and these were when riding with a hat. Thankful that I was.

One of the worse head injuries I had was on the ground, no helmet, worming a pony in a hurry, grabbed the halter stuck the wormer in the pony's mouth and he stood up. As I was in front of him and held on, his knee caught me under the chin and knocked out almost all my teeth.
Wearing a hat would have made no difference. Being in less of a rush and doing it correctly would have done!
 
Both the girls and I wear hats for handling as well as riding.A few weeks after we got our pony,my eldest was picking her feet out when the youngest knocked a big plastic container over by accident.The pony jumped with fright and kicked out,just catching my eldest on the fixed peak of her hat.Luckily,because it was a solid peak,it deflected the blow and she was just a bit shocked.Could have been nasty as the pony is shod.So the rule is-you don't go near unless you've got a hat on.
 
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