So, being un-allowed to ride I've been doing a lot of thinking. Yesterday, my brain landed on the topic of riding helmets and their use. What caused this train of thought was some photos had popped up on my news feed on facebook, and in some of them people were riding and competing without helmets.
I have to admit, I have conflicting feelings. When I was younger and braver I craved to ride without a helmet. The barn I was boarding at at the time had firm rule, you had to wear a helmet if you were under the age of 18. So guess what was the first thing I did on my 18th birthday? I went riding without a helmet, and it was exhilarating!
You just can't deny it, there is nothing quite like riding with the wind in your hair. I often rode bareheaded and barefoot (and sometimes bareback at the same time). Those are some of my favorite memories. Yes I could have been injured or killed, but I wasn't. I didn't do it everyday or even all that often. I worked long hours when I was a teenager, my feet would get soaked and I'd be cranky and tired. So my solution was after I'd clocked out, to pull Jake out of his stall (he was still fully tacked up from helping me be a trail guide for tourists all day), take off my shoes so my poor feet could breathe and jump on. Sometimes we'd rip around the ring, or just walk around.
Part of the reason I wasn't afraid to take those risks was I had complete 100% trust in my horse. We knew each other and we took care of each other. He was my equine soulmate, plain and simple. There will never be another Jake.
Now then, I do normally wear a helmet 98% of the time (100% lately). My helmets over the years have saved my poor skull from beatings that could have possibly been deadly. I've had more falls then I can count (but not as many as most). My most horrifying falls involved jumping, and that's when I always wear a helmet without exception anyways. Granted most of those falls injured other parts of me, but a few did start with my head hitting the ground first.
Those falls taught me a lot, and made me rethink my riding equipment. I went from schooling helmets to a Charles Owen GR8. That helmet made it a lot easier to suck it up and put it on, as it was soooo comfortable compared to my last Troxel. I'm now on my second GR8. Yes they are expensive, but they're worth every penny. (Plus they look good on my head. Well at least as good as a helmet can look.)
See this is where I start to have conflicting emotions about the use of helmets. Do I always ride with a helmet now? This year, yes so far. Last year, mostly. The one exception last year was when I was showing in my first western pleasure classes. I had started out wearing my helmet, but as I learned that the green horse I'd been training for the past year was treating his first show with a "been there, done that" attitude I switched the helmet for my western hat.
Did I ever ride the TB mare I just sold without a helmet? HELL NO. Do I hope to someday be able to know UK well enough to trust in him to ride without a helmet again? Hell yes.
When I managed Daffodil, I rode in my helmet 100% of the time. I had young students that looked up to me. I wanted to continue to set a good example. However I also hoped that someday each and every one of them would be able to enjoy at least one ride without a helmet.
Do I think what discipline you're in effects whether or not you should wear a helmet? No. Your skill level? Somewhat. How well you know your horse? Yes.
Take Courtney King-Dye as an example that tragedy strikes even those with incredible skill. It's a big difference to ride bareheaded on a high energy dressage horse then on a quarter horse that lives in your backyard and is used to everything and anything. If she'd been riding the latter instead of the former, things would have likely been a hellva lot different.
I guess my feelings are basically summed up thus:
A riding helmet is important and necessary. If you decide to ride without one, take into careful consideration your skill at staying on a misbehaving horse, the personality and track record of the horse you'll be riding and where you'll be riding.
And I'll leave it at that.....
As for UK. I went up to barn last night to spend some time with the boyo. It was perfect riding weather, which was so unfair. I was planning on lunging him. So I brought them in, fed them dinner and started grooming UK in his stall. Have I mentioned how awesome it is to be able to groom my horse without it trying to rip my head off for touching it (That was Tess, fyi)?
He was really enjoying trying to spy on the neighbors that live out behind the main part of the paddock. They were making lots of noise and it was something to watch, and he loves to watch. The lighting was awesome, so I grabbed my camera and stepped outside to take some pictures of him (I dabble in photography). I made the mistake of mentioning my intention to lunge him next. After hearing that, UK suddenly was overcome with exhaustion. It was so funny, he just kept yawning and closing his eyes. He was such a ham, as he only yawned when I was looking at him. It was all a big show about how he was way to tired to feel up to being lunged. I put up the best pictures on my DeviantArt account (the link is to the left, labeled My Photography or something to that effect).
Then Betsy returned from kayaking, and we started talking. As I was no longer paying attention to him, UK stuck his head out and pulled his flymask off his door (I had a stall guard up) and commenced to play with it. He is way to clever for his own good, let alone ours.
I spent about 2hours just hanging with him and taking his picture. It was really nice, he let me kiss and hug him too. <3
Toodles!
