Re: awful time with daughter re riding

My Aunt always made *everybody* wear helmets, (even back in the 1960's when
nobody was wearing them). Growing up wearing them made it something we
didn't even think about, (it feels weird for me to ride without one).

We did, however, have people come in off the street for trail rides who did
NOT want to wear helmets. It was always adults who balked at wearing
helmets. Kids pretty much just put them on because we said so. The line of
reasoning that got the adults to put on the helmets most of the time was:
"You need to set a good example for the kids."

It wasn't until I was about 30 years old, (luckily), that I actually saw a
helmet do its job. A 16 year girl was riding a horse that was new to the
barn. The horse had been okay for a few days... then the drugs wore off.
Unfortunately for the girl, she was on him when he went nuts and took off
into a barn that had an asphalt aisle. He got to the end, skidded, reared
and spun around. She fell flat on her back and her helmet, SMACKED the
asphalt, (she's a good rider too). She was out cold. She eventually came
to at the hospital. The doctors said she had a severe concussion. I saw
and heard her helmet hit the asphalt; there is NO way she would be alive if
she had not had that helmet on. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it.

Patrick

p.s. The horse was a nice horse, but it turned out that any sound you made
while riding him made him spook. I was the one who worked with this horse
after the incident. I remember one time he spooked when I went to push my
glasses up on my nose. My jacket made a swishing sound. I could ride him
but he was no good for the school so away he went.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: awful time with daughter re riding
    ... Allison doesn't ride when she's teaching. ... at the Horse Expo and they are WAY better. ... My insurance company does not require helmet use. ...
    (rec.equestrian)
  • Re: Fall from horse kills acclaimed rider
    ... > horse stumbled and fell and the rider is dead. ... > finished her ride had she been wearing a helmet. ... In my short riding "career" of less than three years, ...
    (rec.equestrian)
  • Re: Pro bull riders trade Stetsons for helmets
    ... you can get a helmet for the cost of going out to dinner. ... on a horse-- any horse, no matter how mundane what you are about to do ... She brought a head-injury nurse she worked with out to see and ride ... and then back to the trails. ...
    (rec.equestrian)
  • Re: I just passed out whilst riding.
    ... Wear a helmet! ... Most serious bike and motorcycle accidents are by riders not wearing ... (multiple fractures, compound fractures, paralysis, death, ... Ride everywhere and never just ride anywhere. ...
    (rec.sport.unicycling)
  • Re: Being calm, relaxed and a leader, for your horse?
    ... insurance disaster personnel, or doctors, or others who deal with injuries ... I sing to myself and to the horse. ... and I will not ride without a helmet. ... I do ride with a helmet at all times. ...
    (rec.equestrian)