Thumbs up or thumbs down: banning top hats and hunt caps

I was very disappointed to see that only two riders wore helmets in dressage at Jersey Fresh, Courtney Cooper and Courtney Sendak. Why isn't there more support? Especially from the younger generation?

One of MY pet peeves is riders who think they look cool riding around with their chin straps un-done. For crying out loud, just keep the thing fastened till you get off. It isn't all that difficult.

While I personally choose to wear a helmet, I believe that if you are over the age of 18 you have the right to choose what helmet you would like to wear. While it saddens me that people choose not to wear one, they ultimately are the ones that will have to suffer the consequences.

It is NOT the riders themselves that suffer the consequences, it is those who will have to take care of them if they are injured. That is my problem w/ not wearing a helmet.

Every ride, every time......

You just never know...No matter how 'broke' the horse is, they can trip, like the horse that CKD was riding.......I WISH that the USET would step in to mandate this rule, but I guess that the FEI would have the final say for the upper-level riders---so one would need to persuade The-Powers-That-Be as well. If only Buck and Karen OC and PD (HE has daughters!) and some of the other riders would start showing dressage in helmets. It is REALLY hard to persuade young people, who think they are invincible anyway, to ride in helmets when there are so few ULRs setting good examples.......

I agree with the above comment, you know the typical adolescent "it won't happen to me!" lol! I know because I thought that, and sometimes still do!!! I also think if you are over 18 you should have a choice. People are smart enough to make their own decisions, you have that right. That being said, I am all FOR wearing a helmet, all the time, every time and I was SO STOKED to see Alison in that helmet at Rolex!! And she did look amazing!!!!

Personally I think that every one should wear a helmet every time they ride. Nowadays they make helmets that look like top hats, cowboy hats, etc. If you wear something on your head when you ride that is not a helmet, why not just get the helmet version of it since most of the time it is available?
If people actually used their brains, I would say anyone over 18 can make their own decision about helmets. But in my 19 years on existence, I just don't have that much faith in humanity so I think it should be mandated.
I know someone from high school who has only had 4 falls, but all 4 times she has had a serious injury. While I don't think one of those injuries was a head injury, you would think she would take more precaution, maybe wear a safety vest and/or a helmet. But because she was raised not to wear a helmet she won't go against tradition and start wearing one now.

I think that all disciplines recognized by the usef, fei should be required to wear astm approved helmets. Anyone who disagrees need to visit their local hospitals rehab patients that have brain injuries. I know you would then be an advocate for helmets regardless of the sport.

Top hats look stupid and clownish (though not as much as bowlers/derbys) and are very ageing. Like, about 200 years.

Not sure about vaulters, though...the horse part is sooooo controlled, as is the surface. I suspect there are very few, if any head injuries arising from vaulting. Vaulting isn't really "equestrian" though - it is more like gymnastics.

it will be next to immpossible to get the Reiners to buy into the mandatory helmet concept....not saying it's right but the western world sends children out there barrel racing and carrying flags at high speed in rodeos without helmets!

Helmets could potentially make vaulting more dangerous.
For eventing and dressage, I'm not sure about a ban for top hats/hunt caps. I think anyone who wears a proper helmet deserves praise and extra respect, but then again it saddens me to see the likes of WFP condemned for wearing a beagler in a prize giving. So maybe it would be easier to ban top hats and require proper helmets in all olympic disciplines. Safer, for sure. Bet there'd be a lot of whinging haha!

I wear a helmet like I wear my seatbelt--when I get in a car putting on my seatbelt isn't a thought, it's a habit. I don't even go for a hack without my helmet on--I feel like THAT would be the time I'd have that fall. Better safe than sorry!

I'm at the stage of life where my head is soaked in sweat before I even put the helmet on, but I do it anyway, every time. Freak accidents happen. I believe hunt caps and derbies look dumb: if you're gonna put something on your head, let it actually protect your head!

I always ride in a helmet, but until recently I was competing dressage in my gorgeous Lock hunt cap from England. When CKD had her accident, though, it was put in storage.

Now I do dressage in a black velvet CO helmet, and I think it looks nice. Allison Springer looked gorgeous in her helmet at Rolex; it would be nice to see more ULRs riding in helmets in dressage, but they won't until it's mandatory.

While I am typically one who take the POV that if you're an adult, you can make your own decisions, I think the issue of helmets is a bit different... Its like car insurance. You have insurance just in case something bad happens.

Major League baseball players have to wear a helmet at bat and running bases in the off chance they get hit in the head with a ball. And the first and third base coaches wear them as well, and no one is throwing a 90+ mph fastball at them. Granted, they do not have chin straps, but they are heftier than a top hat, bowler or huntcap.

I don't see why we can't take a que from that or other sports where helmets are required. Afterall, we are dealing with 1000 lb living beings that have their own ideas about things... not a 5 and a quarter ounce ball.

Even if the federations require helmets for competition, many people might not wear them at home while riding. I have a friend who just posted photos of herself jumping her horse with no helmet on. She's a reasonably intelligent person (I thought) and what she is doing is just plain stupid and irresponsible. I told her so too.

Yes, wearing helmets can help prevent some injuries, or reduce injuries. However, I believe you can't legislate common sense.

Requiring approved helmets at all competitions for ALL Competitors would separate the Real Sportsman from the Beauty Queens.

I am in the "younger generation" at 23 years old but I always wear a helmet, flatting, jumping, hacking, showing, what have you. Yes, I believe people should always wear helmets "just in case." However my dream is to go to Rolex one day and I see myself trotting down that centerline in a top hat and tails. It's tradition, just like the long format. And I want to uphold it. I'll continue to ride in helmets until then and will continue after. I am pro-helmets and top hats in competition. Props to the people like Allison who show in helmets.

I hate too much interference from bodies telling us what we need to do. It should be free choice. Everyone knows the consequences and they make a choice to wear what they do.

Think about your audience...Monkey See, Monkey Do...Would you want your 8 year old to get up on their pony without a helmet because they "saw so and so doing it"? I don't have kids, but I know for certain I would want mine wearing a helmet at all times.
I agree - once you are 18 and can legally 'make decisions for yourself', go for it! Feel free to do what you want...but, who is going to be the one making the decisions for you when you fall off, not have your helmet on and become a vegetable? I have zero tolerance for something so foolish as not wearing your helmet.
Allison choosing to wear her helmet down the centreline at Rolex, was amazing. She wrote about it on her blog and everyone should read it....very cool.

While I wear my helmet all the time (though occasionally my hunt cap in the dressage ring) I do respect the fact that it is a personal decision even though I feel that the best decision to wear one. I think Allison wearing one at rolex was absolutely awesome! I would definitely support making kids under 18 wear one until they are legally able to make their own choice, and I think there should be education as to why we should all wear them, but it is a personal decision. There are still going to be a lot of people who ride without helmets at home and just slap one on at the event because they have to-since many incidents occur when we aren't even in the ring (Courtney King Dye) then making them slap one on at the event (while still good) isn't going to protect them all the time and they've made their choice. We all know what can happen if we don't wear out helmet-but let people choose.

I believe adults should have the right to choose, but then I read someone's comment about wearing a seat belt. It's a law to wear a seat belt, and I see a helmet as the equestrian version of a seat belt. It could save your life! I'd be okay with it being a rule since I always wear a helmet when I ride, and sometimes even just on the ground working around my horse when he's feeling especially fresh. Better safe than sorry!

Helmets make vaulting more dangerous because it alters the natural balance of the vaulter. It is also more difficult to perform certain movements which require the vaulter's head to pass through their arms (sumersaults, etc).

I wear a helmet for everything, except in the dressage ring at Prelim or up. Then I switch to my hunt cap (I haven't competed high enough to use a top hat). I think it creates a better picture, and it's traditional. If I become a vegetable because of some freak accident, it was obviously my time to go anyway. I support those who do choose to wear their helmets, just don't expect me to follow suit.

Hockey, Baseball, Football.... they all used to NOT wear helmets. Those sports all chose to mandate helmets, tradition and manliness be dammed! Why are equestrians so opposed to regulating helmet use when it can save a life?

I would like to see it mandated to wear a helmet WITH the chin strap SNUGLY fastened whenever riding a horse at show grounds, no matter the discipline. Vaulting would be exempt because the horse is being lunged (not ridden), plus vaulters have much more experience with falling/landing without being hurt. Perhaps we can establish a certificate for riding without a helmet, that you have to pass a test similar to showing you are as skilled in safely dismounting while the horse is in motion as the novice vaulting team's riders. If you can pass that test then you can get a pass on wearing a helmet in dressage, or reining, or barrel racing, etc.

The thing that really frosts me about DQs who won't wear helmets is how it leaves the non-riding public with the impression that riding isn't a real sport. There is no other sport where competitors dispense with athletic equipment that improves their performance and don 100 year old styles that hamper their performance for competition. In ALL other sports the attire has changed dramatically in recent years, with new fabrics, new clothing styles, new patterns that make the athlete's performance improve. If we want to continue to have Olympic recognition for equestrian sports, we need to get with the times.

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As it is. Tophats say I'm here. If you consider how much of the FEI is in europe where helmets are largely un worn then you might as well be beating your head on a wall. Pun intended. Shit happens accidents happen. Wearing a helmet speaks to self preservation, but at some point some people want to let go of the guide rail and it is their right to do so. Advising a helmet is a posative move. to require one is a bit rude. Mandating what is good for someone is a bit well, totalitarian.

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