Wearing a hat and head injuries

Have you had a head injury...

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Ive voted for option three - rotational fall xc leading to me talking absolute jibberish and being whisked away for a head scan - luckily everything ok in the end.

*whispers* I dont know if you'll get the no hat brigade to actually confess to anything serious though!
 
I said 'while riding, with hat, not serious enough to seek medical attention' as I thought I was fine at the time. I landed on my head on the road and was more concerned about a bruise on my hip than anything else, although I did have a slight headache. I, then, developed bruising to my temple, which actually lasted for well over a month.
Several months later I was taken ill at work and taken to A&E in an ambulance. A trapped nerve in my neck was diagnosed and when I went for the prescribed physio, I was found to have all sorts of muscular problems and misalignments - all resulting from the fall. Perhaps I should have sought medical attention immediately after the accident.
 
I have always worn a hat to ride ever since I first started - although I 'm not sure the old cork lined hats would have saved you from much:rolleyes:

As an aside my neice, who rides and always wears a hat, got hit just above the eye with a polo mallet just over 6 months ago - the bruisinf went in rather then giving her a black eye etc and she is still unable to ride, is taking days off school as she still suffers from blinding headaches, unable to sleep through the night and is on a course of antidepressants to act as a muscle relaxant and is having ongoing treatment from osteopaths and accupuncturists. She has had several scans (MRI and CAT) and has seen the Neurologist - there is no lasting damage to her brain or motor function but is still not able to ride - she is 15.

Whilst it didn't happen while riding it is a good example of how a relatively minor blow to the head can incapacitate you for months. The doctors have asked her to ride for 5 or 10 minutes WITHOUT her hat on to try and find out what is causing the headcahes/pain but she refuses to as she is now sooooo scared of hitting her head again. Before the accident she was competing regularly and was in the PC Tetrathlon team:( and was looking forward to a season of hunter trials before doing some BE events. She hasn't ridden on over 6 months and still doesn't know when she will be able to:(
 
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
 
I'm an ex-no-hat brigade who has 'fessed up.

I used to ride in the Middle East and didn't wear a hat for many reasons - too hot, not cool, none of my friends did etc. Then a new horse reared, buggered off and did a rather fast change of direction dumping me head first on top of a wall. My friends covered for me (didn't want my parents to sell the horse) and about 6 months later went to hospital as kept getting headaches. Apparently I had a hairline fracture of the skull from when I hit the wall, hence the headaches, but it wasn't getting any worse and would mend. However, I left with the warning that a second hit 'wouldn't do me much good'. I now wear a hat. No-one rides on our yard without wearing a hat - even the dutch dressage trainer who thought his nationality and discipline was an alternative to a riding hat.
 
I voted 3 AND 7. Think I'm just unlucky! The riding incident was a very sensitive and hormonal mare who did handstands until I flew off like a cruise missile. Unfortunately I cruised right into the school wall! Left me with a cracked hat, cracked skull, 18 hours worth of memories missing and a 2 day spell in hospital. I'm pretty sure that if I'd not been wearing my hat I would have died. The handling one was a young native stallion I was leading to the field. The owner insisted that we wear hat and gloves to
handle him as he was a bit fiesty anyway. Anyway suffice to say he went vertical and came down on my head. His owner found me when he came back to the yard himself! I was out for a good half hour and had a weeks worth of concussion! Not nice!
 
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A simple fall from a fast canter off the Dizz. She went left, my foot slipped (it wasn't in the habit of slipping!), and I went right :(

Nothing hurt.

Just bashed my head on the ground. Wearing a hat, or wouldn't be here.
 
fell off wearing a hat not so long ago, thought I was okay. the next day I fainted well over 20 times, pouring nosebleeds, numbness in my spine, the worst headaches imagineable, then i went into a coma for 3 days. still not right but if I hadn't of been wearing a hat, I wouldn't be sat here telling you my story, after that fall I will NEVER & i mean NEVER handle a horse or pony no matter how safe without wearing my hat.
 
Another one who ended up in hospital after falling off with a hat. Was asked to do clear round on a friend of a friend's youngster at a show. Fences were 18 inches, was told that he might try to put a stop in, but to give him a kick and he'd go.

Fence 1 he was slowing down as if to stop so I kicked. He leapt about 6ft in the air. I stayed on but was hanging round his neck and he was heading for fence 2 quite fast so I opted to bail out. Next thing I know I'm in an ambulance shouting out telephone numbers, talking about fish and refusing to let go of the handful of mane in my fist.

Spent 3 days in hospital as apparently I had some sort of fit while I was out with my arm flailing about (I think I was semi conscious and was trying to hang on in my mind). I still think my awful short term memory is down to that fall, it wasn't too bad before then. I was told that without a hat I probably wouldn't be here. I've never even sat on a horse without a hat since, not that I did very often before.
 
Actually left the yard hatless some years ago, out on a hack on my 16 2 HanoxID, realised 100 yds down the road...went back...off we set again. Came off 5 mins later, hit my head hard on the road, concussion, and broke my collarbone. If i hadn't had the hat on I most prob would not be here.
 
Was playing silly b*****s years ago, jumping a massive bank out of a river, horse 'missed' and I landed headfirst on a big rock. Got back on and finished the hack (including jumping some more stupid things like picnic tables - don't remember any of it though!). Parents realised I was 'not myself' so ended up in A&E with concussion - checked the hat out next time at yard and had very bad split in the shell. Luckily I always ride with a hat.

Also ended up with concussion, and the added bonus of a fractured skull whilst clipping a few years ago - not wearing hat, although I always do now.

ETA Forgot about the lovely scar I have above my eye - was in grooming my horse, not sure what happened but I came round on the floor of my stable covered in blood! Probably had minor concussion again but more worried about the fact my eye closed up so badly I couldn't see for a few days - this happened the day before my degree exams at Uni :/ No hat this time, can't say I wear a hat even now for grooming
 
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Sat a broching horse round a 40x40 school, he stopped put in an other small buck and I fell off, think I hit my head on a jump wing foot. Was wearing a hat. Got back on, friend realised there was something wrong when I kept asking why I was riding this particular horse!

OH took me to A/E when I kept asking what happened, he actually wrote it down in capital letters and I held it in front of me on the way to hospital, he got fed up answering the same question after I had asked it 50 times:D

Didn't have a scan, but was diagnosed with concussion. What really frightened me was that I could remember that my son was 10 weeks old, but couldn't remember his date of birth, but was able to find his birth certificate that had been put in a safe place. Still cant remember what happened to this day, accident was 7 yrs ago.

I used to work on a neuro unit and spent 12 yrs on a neuro ITU, my head injury was mild, but with the knowledge I have it was terrifying
 
I voted - while riding, with hat, NOT serious enough to seek medical attention

I was thrown off with a polly adjustable riding hat on, felt my hat after fall and it had gone from being a really good fit to having only the strap under my chin keeping it 'kind of' on.. so after this I went and picked (and had fitted) a nice new champion one, as my ned is keen on the idea of me being on the floor!
 
It would be interesting to see who has had a fall or accident with a hat that saved them from serious injury: many I would guess.

I've had a couple of falls where my hats saved me and I've had to bin it due to a big hole or crack. Not impressive falls, just tumbled off unexpectedly (which is what happens when you're cantering along quite happily and someone chucks their garden cuttings over the fence and they land on your horse!) and didn't land heavily or awkwardly.

Friend fell of a while ago jumping and hit her head. Took weeks to recover and the doctors said her hat saved her life.
 
I had a very unfortanate accident whilst hacking out my mare. Whilst riding down a country lane a car came round the car to fast and we did not have time to move out of the way. Unfortanetly that is all I remember. My friend told me I went head on into the car which we later found out was doing 55mph in a 30mph. I suffered a fracture skull with bleeding on the brain. I spent 5 weeks in a coma and my parents were told to except the worse and even if I did wake up I would be severley brain damage. I am pleased to tell you that I have only a minor speech problem which I can hide really well. I believe had I not been wearing my hat I wouldnt be here today. So I never ever ride without out and encourage everyone I know to wear one.
 
The only fall where I hit my head was after landing on my back and head flicking back onto rock hard mud. Hat seemed ok and I was too.
Been pretty lucky with my falls so far,few nasty bruises, strained tendons,etc, but nothing that would have been made less painful by a hat or body protector.
I do wear a hat even though I don't feel a need to, most of the time, except with the youngster out on the roads or for jumping.
 
Put with hat riding needed medical attention - but on thinking about it got no medical attention on either incident!

Incident 1 - got knocked out when pony slipped down on road on the way to the meet
Incident 2 - got knocked when another pony galloped into wire fence and tipped up instead of going through gate hunting with bloodhounds

Came round on both occasions - guess parents thought long wait in A&E unnessesary!! (We seemed to go alot around that time. ;) )
 
I had an accident when I was 16, horse tripped on landing from a jump and fell. He kicked me in the head as he stood up and I ended up with severe concussion and a serious crack in my hat!...thankfully I ALWAYS wear a hat as I dread to think what might have happened if I hadn't been....
 
Hope it's OK if I join in, and don't be put off from adding your votes!

I've had a horse slip on a tarmac road and fall sideways with me. My hat was trashed, I had a concussion, two weeks off work, but I can't remember the accident as I lost a few minutes of memory around the event, but my friend said there was no spooking/sillyness it was just a slip but going sideways the horse had no chance of righting himself. One minute I was at the bottom of the road on the horse, the next I was standing at the top without the horse! It was the weirdest sensation ever! I think the horse fell like a tonne of lead and my head took a lot of the impact, so I assume that without the hat I would have had a very serious injury.

Literally two weeks after deciding to wear a hat for handling, my otherwise sensible youngster spooked at the dogs, went up and hit me over the head. Hat ruined but I was fine. Going by the damage on the hat I would have been in quite a bit of trouble without one (the horse was shod).
 
Head injury while riding and wearing a hat. Horse slipped over a tiny jump. We were both found out cold in the field. I woke up in the car on the way to the hospital.:eek: (my ex-employer did not call an ambulance!!!)

I have slowly pieced together the sequence of events. I fractured my cheekbone which grabbed an eye muscle on the way up. This affected my eyesight for years after. 18 months later it was confirmed I also had right brain trauma. Luckily co-ordination was the only thing that wasn't affected - but a heck of a lot of other functions were! :rolleyes: It has been 20 years and I still deal with the effects.
 
I voted for number 3 and no 5- had bad fall once where I was chucked on to concrete yard by a very unpredictable dangerous horse- hit my head despite wearing hat, was knocked out and concussed, but I didn't know i was so apparently I got back on again, and the same thing happened again- I went to the hospital a&e and was talking complete jibberish!

my hat was taken apart after the accident and it was in bits inside- I dread to think what would have happened had i not been wearing a hat- i've been concussed a few times whilst wearing a hat. It taught me that the horse was never going to change and it wasn't worth risking my life over as there are plenty of good horses out there!, saying that if it had never happened i wouldn't have my horses i have now!

No 5- wearing no hat, grooming my horse and he swung his head round head butted me in the head and I had mild concussion! probably my fault for tying him up a bit too long!.

I will always wear a hat for riding and i will be wearing my hat with a harness (not a beagler anymore) for shows/dressage too.
 
I used to ride a chestnut mare for someone, I had my hat on ready to ride but she was still in the field, I went to catch her and she span round and kicked me in the head knocking me to the floor. Lucky I had a hat on, but I wouldn't normally wear one to catch a horse!

Also I was picking a horses feet out into a bucket (the yard rules) and he put his left hind down into the bucket and panicked kicking out just as I bent down to get the bucket off his foot. He made contact with my forehead cutting it open. It didn't hurt but bled a lot. I went running up to the house with my hand over it, and blood was running down my arm and dripping off my elbow. I had 7 stitches in my head and still have a scar 20 years later!

I came off Axel one day, something spooked him and he span round. I hurt my back but wasn't aware of hitting my head (I had a hat on) I got back on but went back to the yard. Later on I developed a bad headache and started feeling sick. I was working nights so went to work anyway but threw up when I was there and got sent home with advice from my manager to go to hospital.
The next day I looked at my hat and there was dirt and mud on the back of it :(
 
I VOTED, while riding, with hat, serious enough to seek medical attention

Because i was jumping on my own in the wind, came into the fence, fence blew over Twizzy span, landing me in the fence, knocked myself out for a bit, Some how, put twizzy out, drove home, sent a text to my mum saying what happend, cant remeber ANY of it, Mum came how drove me to hospital, they said i would be fine, but i had been sick and all i wanted to do was go to sleep.

But at the end of the day its up to the indivual if they want to wear a hat or not. Free will and all.
 
I've had a riding head injury (with hat, no need for medical attention) - just a bit of a sore head a couple of times from rattling it off the ground!

I've had a couple of non-riding head injuries (no hat, I don't wear a hat handling unless I think I need to ... oops :p) - usually getting kneed in the face when putting boots on! Although my finest moment was when I sneezed outside Dylan's stable, he came over to see what was going on, so when I sneezed again the movement of my head caused me to headbutt him in the face - it was bloody agony!
 
I've never had what I would call a head injury related to horses - touch wood.

But I always wear a hat to ride, and given the fact that I have bashed my head fairly hard and walked away without a concussion or even a headache that lasted, we can safely say that my hat is doing its job!

Watch me go and fall off next time I ride now!
 
I have ridden (to my shame without a hat) in my teens and now inmy 30's very occasionally, bringing in from field etc. Not any more - I was riding, fully tacked up and with hat on cantering up field with hubby there when my bombproof Veteran put in a huge "yee ha" buck and I went straight over his head. Landing on left shoulder and walloped head. Hubby actually took my hat off as I was laid on the ground but I insisted on getting straight back on, hubby walked with me until I said "What just happened?"

Another good point to make is updating our hats, I had been using an old show hat that had been sat in the cupboard for nigh on 16 years when I thought it might be an idea to get a new one - thank God I was wearing my new skull cap. Lesson learned.
 
Horse tipped up over a pole in the arena, I landed face first in a fixed peak hat, fixed peak snapped and broke my nose, I also broke cheek bone and knocked a tooth out, I was unconcious so went to hospital.
Fell off this summer wearing my Patey, knocked myself but wasn't bad enough to go to hospital.
 
Hurt head with hat on but didn't seek medical attention: was jumping a double on a youngster with no stirrups under my RI's tutelage. Did it a dozen times in both directions, without a problem (i.e. no jumping always to the right, and no motorbiking out of corners). Let my guard down having jumped for the final time, Harry suddenly went back to motorbiking and I came off sideways, falling with my impact being broken by the left side of my head. I'd a sore head for a few days, but know thanks to Dad being a paramedic and friend of a friend dying at Uni from a head injury last year (went to hospital, had a scan, came home with doctor's permission, suddenly starting vomiting then boom, terminal bleed) when to seek attention and when not. I was home alone that night and to be extra safe, I made sure to have people ring and check up on me 'til OH finished his shift. It's always better to be safe than sorry! Any change in symptoms and I would have been at A&E in a heart beat.
 
Pony reared and went over backwards. Hat got squished. I didn't go to A&E but I voted for option 3 anyway because my mum is a nurse so she did the whole medical attention for the resulting concussion thing.
I should also have voted for falling off in a hat and not getting medical attention but I forgot (whoops) and now it won't let me vote again. I fell off my friend's ISH, lost consciousness briefly, must have been concussed as I thought it would be a really great idea to walk home by myself to an empty house where I passed out until the next day. Still alive though.
 
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