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Hi,
I ride a lot. Everyday if possible and sometimes
3 horses a day. Do I wear a helmet? Yes!
I wore one years ago when I took jumping lessons. It
was required. But at that time I would trail ride bareback and bare headed
without a thought. Then I went through the stage of wearing a helmet when I rode
colts that I was starting and known nutballs.
However last fall an incident-accident put me
into the "always wear a helmet" group. I was riding down the edge of our busy
road with on a nice, broke gelding (Sam)who had never spooked at cars. My friend
was riding her horse with me. Well, I didn't count on an uncoming pickup load of
hay blasting by us or the 30 year old barbed wire fence buried in the grass
that lay in the ditch that my horse choose to jump into. I survived the jump.
But when Sam tangled his feet in that old wire and the old dead fence posts
sprang to life; things got way too complicated. I got dumped. My friend's horse
paniced at the terrible screaching of the wire. She got dumped,
too.
The horses took off! Luckily, both horses made it
through the ordeal with no harm just the loss of one Easyboot. My friend was
dumped on the edge of the road and was wearing her helmet-- good thing as she
banged the back of her head on the tarmac. I was ditched in the grass about 6'
from the buried wire. I wasn't wearing my helmet and my stirrup smacked me in
the temple. I landed on the best padded part of my anatomy. But I was pretty
shaken. I last time I had come off unexpectedly had been 6 years previously
while riding a young filly her second time.
The next day we loaded ourselves and the horses
up for a "confidence" ride as all of us were shaken. We went to a quiet area of
light traffic and it was the best thing to get our nerves calmed.
Now a lot of people I know and ride
with consider me good, confident rider with lots of trail miles on green horses.
So when they see me wearing a helmet, the wheels start turning. They start
thinkin "Hmm, if Vicky isn't embarrassed to wear a helmet. Then people won't
think I'm a wimp for wearing one." I may get a broken bone but hopefully
I'll still know my name and address.
My husband still doesn't wear a helmet. And I
always hope that his good horses don't step in a hole or fall down a
hill.
Vicky Smith
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