I've never had anyone call me a wimp because
I wear a helmet. We do horseback patrol on a local state park, in uniform,
wearing our white helmets. Boy, do we look official! Incidentally,
there has been, and maybe still is available a western hat that has a helmet
built into it.
My best story about the need for helmets
involves my husband. Years ago, we were riding at a flat-footed
walk on a flat trail when I heard a thud behind me. I turned around
to see the mare my husband was riding standing next to him. He was
lying on the ground, out cold. I had never seen an unconscious person
before, and my first thoughts had me living the rest of my life as a
widow. Then he started to groan, and it was the most awful sound that ever
came from a human throat. I ran to the nearest house for help, several
hundred yards away. When I got back to him, he had gotten up and was
leaning on my horse that I had tied to a tree. The neighbor drove him
home, I ponied his mare home (about 1-1/2 miles) and found him wandering
around the yard in a daze. He still does not remember about three hours of
his life. The mare had stumbled and gone down, he fell off and hit
the back of his head on a tree root. He didn't have a helmet on. He
wears one now!
It is about time for the helmet issue to surface. We've
done LD, age limits in endurance - now helmets!
It does kind of tick me off to be called a wimp because I wear a helmet
- I wear one, yeah, I look like a dork and don't care!
We have a group of cowboys here that wouldn't be caught dead in a helmet.
We have had more injuries in the last couple of years with them working cows
in the arena than all the endurance rides and NATRC rides put together we have
had and that's quite a few.
One of the "cow" guys was out riding his horse, no helmet, just walking,
and woke up and to this day, can't remember what happened. His glasses were
broken and he had hit his head. He hasn't ridden since, it shook him up so
badly. He says if he ever rides again, he will be wearing a helmet.
Hey, if you have something between your ears to protect wear a helmet. If
not, wear a baseball cap! You'll look really cool,and you won't remember
your unintentional dismount!
