| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Gerri |
Posted - 17 Nov 2011 : 12:30:20 PM
Yesterday there was a guy riding a horse with NO HAT!!!!!! it infuriates me that people can be sooo selfish and soooo stupid Having nearly died from a fall AND wearing a hat, it just makes me go cold that people can be so reckless with thier lives and it would give the poor horses bad press as well when we had our own yard I would not let anyone ride anywhere on the estate without a hat and if they did not like it then they were told to leave Sorry but the trouble is nothing awful ever happens to people that take unnecessary risks, its always the people who take every precaution and it just makes me so mad.......okay rant over |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Gerri |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 1:53:47 PM
THAT IS SO SAD BLESS HIM AND MAY HE RIP |
| KittyB |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 1:44:23 PM
http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/ee/boards/index.php?topic=45415.0
Enough said. |
| proctorclaire |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 1:09:48 PM
It is personal choice however they should think about the ones they could potentially leave behind if they have a nasty fall and quite possible die from it. No matter how much you trust your horse and know them inside out they can still be unpredictable.
I don't know how many times I've ridden and it's not been until I've went to take my hat off that I've realised I didn't have it on in the first place. Although a couple of months back I had a bad fall when my mare took off when I went to mount and if it wasn't for my hat I don't know if'd be able to ride at this moment in time having went flying and landed on my head! |
| Gerri |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 1:01:32 PM
Brychens mum......Thats exactly what I meant about being selfish its the mess or carnage that other people have to clear up afterwards as when accidents happen without a hat the results are far worse than those when riding a hat.....well most of the time |
| Arachnid |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 12:50:50 PM
Kathleen - thats awful, your poor mum.
Even if you have no regard for your own safety I think you should wear hats in front of children. A lady near here runs a riding school and I cant help thinking it would be better if she DID wear a hat escorting a ride of impressionable 10 year olds (all of whom are obliged to wear them) I do get the personal freedom stuff etc, but look who you are influencing. |
| kathleen |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 12:28:41 PM
I have never rode without a hat but i have worn a badly fitting hat and paid the price
At 16 year old i was rushing one morning late for the local show i was taking new horse to which was 10 mins hack into the village. My hat was missing from the tack room so took my brothers which was far too big for me tightened chin strap up jumped on and off we went. We got 20 yards out of the yard and my mare who had not put a foot wrong since i had her clocked 2 horses further down the road and tried to take off after them, i said no as slippy road and she had a total hissy fit apparently from the lady with the horsebox behind me she reared bolt upright 3 times 2nd hat came flying off 3rd my 17hh Tb mare slipped on the road and sent us both over and back on to the road lucky she landed to the side of me but i landed head 1st in to the middle of the road 21 years on i do not remember leaving the yard just waking up in hospital 20 stitches in the back of my head and being told that my poor Mum had thought that i was dead and that i had a fit in front of her on the road whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
I have now two young children and i believe that if its your time to go that's it lucky for me that day it was not, but i do try to look after myself as i would never forgive myself if my family had to look after me due to me not putting a correctly fitting hat or body protector |
| brychens mum |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 10:00:02 AM
Last Sunday a young lady on our yard went out riding. She did exactly what several of the older people like me on the yard who should really mind our own business said she shouldnt do, rode without her hat.
She has no idea what happened however she came of on the road, spilt her scalp open, got knocked out and had concussion and brain swelling. Fortunatly she was riding with some much younger children who had the brains to wear hats and were able to catch her pony. If she had been riding alone when it happened her pony would have had to take its own chances in traffic.
her thoughtlessness caused considerable distress to the children she was riding with, her family, the yard owner who had to accompany her to hospital , and she tied up an ambulance transporting her there, the resources of A&E, a cat scanner and MRI scanner plus numerous medical staf who could have spent their time on more deserving accidents.
Yes there is such a thing as personal choice in most things, but there is also such a thing as being sensible and not benig selfish. |
| pinkvboots |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 09:17:50 AM
I always crawl past horses on the road too, and I also find not many say thanks and many even look miserable, I was riding the other day crossing the road and waved and smiled to a man in a van that stopped for me, one of the men whistled at me so it sometimes pays to be polite and give a smile. |
| Gerri |
Posted - 22 Nov 2011 : 06:34:18 AM
I SAW HIM AGAIN driving over to the stables it was a bit foggy down the little lanes and I came round a bend and there he was, I always slow down to a crawl as I go past the horsrs on the road........not even a wave of thanks beautiful horse though........can't say the same for the rider though |
| Cinnypony |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 9:28:08 PM
Each to their own....
Nothing worse than being told what to do, even if the person telling you is right.
Yes ridden without a hat, not lately, but just because no need for a long walk back from the field, or in the US or Caribbean riding western. Lovely feeling, but not something would do everyday. |
| Kes |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 5:53:52 PM
Gerri, I might have to challenge you on hair vanity (although if you saw me wouldn't think it!!)
I own an alarming amount of hats (baseball style) for when you just can't walk around post 2/3 hour ride  Even got hats for makes of saddle I don't even own, don't know how that happened......
Carole. |
| Gerri |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 4:52:37 PM
No of course not x x |
| pinkvboots |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 2:40:00 PM
Sorry Gerri but that's just my opinion no hard feelings though eh |
| Gerri |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 12:17:22 PM
Well ....thats me told |
| pinkvboots |
Posted - 21 Nov 2011 : 10:36:58 AM
I don't always wear one if its really hot, but I would only ride my own horses without one and I mainly do it when schooling as that's when I tend to get really hot, personally if someone commented on me not wearing one I would tell them to mind there own business, as I for one feel it your choice nothing to do with anyone else. |
| Gerri |
Posted - 20 Nov 2011 : 12:47:13 PM
LOL.......Trust me there is no one more vain about thier hair than me but still would never be without a hat |
| plonker |
Posted - 19 Nov 2011 : 1:26:49 PM
i do not think you realise how important it is to keep ones hair in place,it really does not matter if one prefers to be a cabbage in a wheelchair,however i do get annoyed with all the money wasted with the nhs for the sake of vanity,when the money could be used on people that deserve it |
| Callisto |
Posted - 19 Nov 2011 : 11:14:33 AM
Thank goodness you were wearing a hat, and of course now you'll need to replace it - maybe ask for that for Xmas rather than flying lessons?. I expect you startled her by parting company. |
| Quarabian |
Posted - 19 Nov 2011 : 10:45:07 AM
Well I am glad I was wearing my hat this morning!!!!
It is the first time I have come off Smokey. She has been such a good girl through backing and our early riding experiences but this morning she demonstrated a superb buck. I wish I had it on camera. To be fair it wasn't her fault. Coming back down the hill I had just gor back on after opening a gate in the mud. My boots were slippy, after a few yards my foot slipped backwards out of the stirrup and bumped her in the side. The reaction was explosive and instant, the first I knew I was airborne. Then I felt the side of my head hit the ground a bit like this I could actually feel the helmet absorb some of the crunch. She was still a good girl, she stood perfectly still waiting for me to struggle to my feet. I'll put that one down to experience and won't be asking for flying lessons for xmas.
So this post is to reinforce Gerri's concerns and to underline that I never endorsed riding without a hat. (Though it wouldn't have happened if I was bareback without stirrups!) |
| Gerri |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 6:04:27 PM
sorry meant to say also the only horse that threw him and scarred all his face was my first arab mare and from that day he hated arabs, so I had to get another farrier in to do them |
| Gerri |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 6:02:31 PM
The joke of it is that I fell hopelessly in love with my ex husband at the tender age of 13 years old because I always saw him riding mad horses with no hat and the wrong clothes and thought he was the most wonderful man in the world........years later he is no longer my hero or the love of my life...maybe as we get older the sight of anything that risks life or limb is just unbearable |
| george |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 5:41:59 PM
I agree, hats only for me please....my OH though drives me insane  I have seen him fly through the air completely hatless I have told him that I will not ride out with him unless he is wearing one, he has had so many health scares and yet he takes his life in his hands every time he rides (which is often on a newly backed horse) it makes me so mad, I know he was a bit of a mad rider when I met him, taking off down a hill at a gallop and me having no choice but to follow but I have tried to make him behave I just don't think he will ever grow up  |
| Libby Frost |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 5:11:38 PM
Gerri i agree with you, i wouldnt ride ANYTHING without a hat, i suffered concussion after a bad fall ,years ago, and very lucky i wasnt brain damaged as when i came round i had no idea where we lived, what month we were in etc etc, it was only my hat that saved me. |
| Gerri |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 5:05:18 PM
Okay years ago my friends father who had a string of event horses and very well known(no names given) was riding his horse as he did everyday and he had a fall, was not eventing just out exercising, he suffered serious brain damage and after that they used to empty the swimming pool take the ladder away with him in it with toys etc because thats the only safe place they could leave him when they had to get on with something and there was no one to stay with him, it was heartbreaking to see another friend of mine was werring a hat and her horse tripped on a kerb she fell off and suffered fractured skull, I had a push button ride, had an accident whilst wearing a hat and very lucky to be alive although my left side does not work as good as the right, I have a damaged hip suffer with terrible migraines a legacy left by my accident, so WHY take the risk for even more damage? what about your loved ones when you are reduced to a vegetable, or disabled? and what happens to the horse once you have fallen off? sorry but I think we owe it to ourselves our loved ones and our equines to take every possible precaution to staying safe, having said that I agree there is nothing like the wind blowing through your hair as it blows in the wind and there is nothing worse than your head getting hot and sweaty and the headaches from wearing a hat, but for me I got off lightly with a hat, so there is no contest, I am not trying to tell anyone what to do but being honest it just makes me mad to see ......thats all, sorry I do not mean to offend anyone but cannot help how I feel |
| Emma B |
Posted - 18 Nov 2011 : 3:29:38 PM
hats all the way for me. My dad had a fall this year (not from a horse) just standing and died of a head injury - i spent 3 months in intensive care with him looking at these poor poor people with brain / head injuries realising how lucky I am and I would not jeopordise it by taking any chances. "Just my opinion" |
