Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Helmets and risk tolerance

I'm commenting on a bunch of emails here.  Stay with me.

See, what I'm trying to get across to this list is that if a person 
*really* doesn't want risk, they will make every effort to become better 
horsemen/women.  Wearing a helmet might be a good idea but it's only one 
little part of good horsemanship!  To my mind, getting on a horse without 
becoming educated about riding and working towards becoming an 
*accomplished* (or at least as accomplished as possible) rider is WAY MORE 
risky than getting on without a helmet.  And I guess I'll be blunt here - I 
bet a significant number of people who are yelling about the dangers of not 
wearing a helmet aren't very good riders and aren't doing anything about it 
either.

What is risky to me is getting involved with endurance riding without being 
a good rider.  Truman mentions crashes, when your horse trips and rolls or 
falls down a Tevis cliff.   I still do think that most horse accidents are 
rider caused - or at least rider influenced.  I sure don't see many horses 
tripping and doing somersaults, or falling off of cliffs *without* riders 
on their backs.

Brenda (or bkbkbk) writes that John Ware died because his brains were 
scrambled due to a horse accident (implying I guess that if he was wearing 
a helmet he'd have lived) but a little internet snooping says that he fell 
off his horse and broke his neck 
http://www.galileo.org/schools/millarville/community/story_john_ware_kid.htm 
or that his chest was crushed by the saddle 
horn  http://www.bccns.com/johnware.htm  So I'm not sure what conclusions 
anyone could come from his story.

Warning:  Personal opinion follows!!!  This is NOT advice or 
criticism!!!  It is merely personal opinion!!  Those with a sensitive 
nature are asked to exit the plane... I mean, to hit delete!!!

To my mind if a person rides a green horse on the pavement with barbed wire 
in a ditch one one side and traffic on the other, they had better be 
wearing a helmet, a safety vest, elbow pads, knee pads and have a good life 
insurance policy.  A mere helmet doesn't begin to protect a frail human 
body under those circumstances!
       _________________________________________________
                              Lif Strand * Quemado NM USA
          STRAND ENTERPRISES * www.fasterhorses.com
Internet Research * Web Design * Fine Art * Horsemanship mentoring


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