What did you think of Charlotte not wearing top hat?

I commented to my work colleagues about her wearing a hat!! There first reaction was sponsorship too!
Good on her, I actually preferred it!!
And also a good role model, my daughter has been asked to go on the pc dressage team last week and at first she turned her nose up so we watched the Olympic dressage and the first thing she asked was if she could wear a hat with no strap like them!!! And she's 8 so they do influence young kids!!!
Of course I told her no she would be wearing her skull cap but I have promised her a hew silk!!! :-)
 
Well done to her for having the balls to go against tradition. I think she's fabulous role model.

My only (teeny weeny) critiscm of Carl is that he wasn't wearing a hard hat when I've heard him advocating wearing them before.... Not that I could be peeved with Carl for long! ;)
 
I think its very good she was wearing a hat, sets a good example and doesn't look too out of place.

Must admit I'm not too keen on the look of those hats or the ones sj people wear as prefer the velvet ones, but much better she has any sort of hat and be safer.
 
She looked loads better in that hat than she would have in a top hat. I think the women look pretty stupid in top hats and tails, and they're so old fashioned. All in all i wish they'd just do away with them and make them all wear normal dressy riding gear, its safer, more practical and IMO smarter.
 
I liked it, it gave Dressage a more modern, less stuffy look. In fact I thought those in Top Hats looked rather old fashioned in comparison. Good for her, who wants to look like the rest of the herd anyway :D
 
Good on her for putting safety first. I watched the team showjumping and dressage with my 4yr old who couldn't understand why the riders had taken their hats off and where cantering round.
 
Double gold for Charlotte! What a fantastic result.

For another slant, hopefully the change in hat will make Joe Public appreciate it is a sport, that requires total dedication & has inherant risks which is why the hard hat is suitable headgear, & to be frank the topper isn't. Too often its not seen as a sport almost because of the topper. It may also help to break down the eliteist (or should I say richest) preconception of riders.

How many people as kids refused to wear a coat to school in winter & froze becuase it didn't fit with the fashion, where now as parents (& usually putting comfort ahead of fashion) try to get kids to wear a coat? This is a more important example, as potentially it is kids lives at stake. What they do when adults aren't looking could ruin their lives, they could die or be left with a permenant disabling head injury. Seeing the best wearing a very elegant hard hat is the most fantastic advert.

Charlotte, you're a superstar!
 
I am very interested too.
Its just safer.
I was at the Sj yesterday and there are lots of scary things not least the overhead camera zooming up and down!

The Canadian rider that was eliminated could have hurt himself when his horse freaked out.

I also squirm when riders do their lap of honor with their hats tucked
under their arms!
 
Very impressed - I had to swap hats with someone yesterday whilst mounted (boyfriend was getting on our other mare and my hat is the only one that fits him) and it made me feel so incredibly vulnerable even though it was literally a split second where I took my hat off and put another on.

I couldn't ever ride without a hat.

It certainly didn't decrease the level of her performance!

K x
 
Cortez said:
Prefer the top hat. They should be able to ride without falling off at this level, surely?
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Well horses ,however well trained, are unpredictable animals and should be treated as such. Who says that they are more likely to fall off if wearing a hard hat? They're not but if they DO fall off (they are only human and the horses are only animals) at least they won't have to pick their head up off the floor.

I would much rather see a rider wearing a proper hat.
 
I didn't notice anything unusual but then I'm not into dressage just thought how smart she looked.Top hats are O.K in a fancy dress parade I guess
 
Love it, and it certainly didnt do her any harm, shes double gold medal winner,and it doesnt matter how experienced you are as a rider, all horses cam be unpredictable, especially equine athletes :rolleyes:
 
As quoted in my local paper (EDP) by HRH Princess Anne:

" I think the thing people always ought to remember about horses is that they always have the potential to kill you".

So Charlotte may be the most sensible out of all the dressage riders.
 
Laura-C said:
She looked brilliant, and sets a fantastic example! I think she looked modern and sporty - whilst the top hats look very elegant and "posh". Maybe the image of dressage needs a bit of an update?
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As somebody who patches up the aftermath of broken heads, I applaud her! She looked smart, and was safe. As for an update, maybe but not too much of one. dressage is formal by it's very nature and blouson jackets just would not do!
 
I actually think tops hats look very stuffy, which is different to being smart. If I ever got to a level where I had the choice I would wear a velvet riding hat.

If everybody did it, we'd soon get used to how it looks.
 
I think it was fantastic :)
She put her safety first and set a good example to the millions of kids watching worldwide .. What's not to like??
 
I was disappointed she chose NOT to wear a top hat - looks much smarter. If we're going to say the top hat is old fashioned why bother with the tails? I think a big part of the dressage look is the tails and topper.
 
After watching her on the indivduals and after in the collecting arean, when the crowd cheered the horse reacted and that horse nearly buggered of across the arena so been sensible she wore a hat, probaly helped shes a charles owen rider too.
I really think it was a brave decision by a rider who like her head in one piece!!:)
 
I prefer the old look but she looked smart and it doesn't detract at all from the overall picture.
I think they should let riders chose which they use.
 
I scarcely noticed (too busy looking at the horses legs rather than the rider's head), but was impressed that she did wear proper safe headgear.

Though I prefer the look of the velvet cap as a compromise between topper and crash helmet.
 
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