Hi Ronda,
For the very same reason, Monty's student must wear a helmet if they want their videos viewed by the staff. No helmet, no valuation, it works I can tell you!
One other thing is that you feel safer, thus your adrenalin tends to be lower, if you know you're taking all possible precautions.
Thumb-rule to do good work is: be realistic, don't take risks and know your own limits
Thank you for bringing this up,
Miriam

I agree 100% Miriam.
My only desire is that others would take it serious as well.
I viewed a video this morning of a youg girl with a exercise bra on, yoga pants and sneakers only, oh yes and some flowers around her neck.
She was dancing around this very large horse with her arms in the air.
Not quite sure what was trying to be proved but you could tell by the body language of the horse that it was uncomfortable.
An uncomfortable horse is an easily spooked horse which can turn into a dangerous situation.
I just don't know what the parents were thinking!!!!
I also agree about the helment being worn, so many of us old timers don't think it's important but it is.
I tell you another story about me. Pure stupidity on my part. It happened this summer and I had to go to the hospital because of it and the results could have been so much worse.
I was in the round pen with STAR had all my gear on except my helment (I thought it was too hot) and approached STAR to put her halter on, a bug bit her hard, she reared straight up and came down.
I was right beside her and she struck me first in the head, secondly the left shoulder. I was knocked to the ground and curled into a ball. Her feet did not get me but I was knocked out, NO HELMENT!!!!!!
I trully wish that all of Monty's lessons would really stress the need for safety equipment.
I noticed in all of Kelly's videos she wears a helment, bravo.
I learned a powerful lesson, I will tell you.
Thank you for your knowledge.
Be safe,
Ronda

It makes me cringe when I see people riding without a helmet. I always wear a body protector and proper boots too when riding, even just going out for a quiet hack, just not worth the risk as Ronda demonstrates with her story about the bug (what a horrific thing to happen, glad you were OK). I was once bitten quite hard by a horse on my ribcage, under my right armpit - if I had not been wearing a thick fleecy top there is no doubt I would have ended up in the hospital having plastic surgery. Even if you think your horse is the most bombproof horse in the world it's still better to be safe than sorry. I was taught to ride in the UK at BHS approved establishments where helmet wearing is compulsory, no helmet no riding!

I remember a time when i was a young teenager and i was riding my pony on a gravel road, no helmet and bareback! Stupid? yes! She started trotting and as it was summer she was shiny...and slippery! I fell off and forgot to let go of my reins. She spooked and dagged me metres down the road. My back was all ripped up and i had a very sore head. It was only pure luck that i did not end up in hospital! from that day the rule was 'No lid No ride'. I always wear a helmet and safety vest while riding and propper footwear. I hate seeing people ride in sneakers! One thing i will not wear is steel toe boots while working with horses. I have heard horror stories of people losing their toes because the steel bends in the boot when trodden on! I wear what look lke hiking boots but are actually endurance riding boots made by Ariat.
Emlaw you are right that even the most bombproof horse has the ability to cause injury. Unfortunately is usually our lack of thinking that gets us hurt!
Great topic again Ronda :-)
Janelle

Great for bringing this up Ronda. It is really important for all of us. Yes, when we become complacent and think it wont happen to me that is when we are in real danger. Helmet, good riding boots and cover up. Take care everyone and stay as safe as you can.

Ronda
Being an old time who never wore a helmet and still doesn't I agree with you that proper gear is important for your safety. I would add one more thing and that is most people either fall or get hurt by either not paying attention to what their horse is doing or they do something foolish and beyond their ability. If you are going to try something new with your horse be hyper vigilant and keep track of where you are in relationship to your horse and what your horse is doing and feeling.

I have said it before, but a horse does not just go ballistic without telegraphing his moves. Either humping his back or scootching his hind end. It doesn't give you a lot of time to be prepared so you need to pay attention When you ride, do you continually look around or do you look straight ahead between the horses ears? Looking between the horses ears give you all sorts of signals. If your horse starts lay his ears back, something is bugging him and he may do something about it. Pay attention. Ears forward head up, the horse maybe aware of something in front that you may not see or understand. Pay attention he is going to do something. One thing that can happen is that he will spin on you and go the opposite direction. Not paying attention and you are sitting on the ground!

My horse has stepped on my foot numerous times because i was not paying attention to where his feet were and what he was doing. I always wear boots and have never been hurt by him stepping on me since I can pull my foot back. Leather will slide out from under his foot. Tennis shoes, not so much!

Cheers

Thank you all so much for your imput. I always learn from this forum and you have not let me down again.
Dennis,
That is exactly what happened when STAR reared. I was so anxious to get her in, I had to leave for work, and I had her too close to the gate and fence. Not paying attention!!!
Stupid, stupid or what!
I wear rubber, hoofs slide off nicely, they're hot but I feel safe.
With her firey nature I feel safe in the round pen with a helment. With all my gear on I look like a rolly polly, in the videos but I know I'm as safe as I can be.
Be safe everyone,
Ronda

I know this is an old post, but I just saw something on TV that would make your hair curl. There was a programme on about two women/girls (late teens or early twenties maybe) who were competing horses and running summer camps for young teenagers in order to fund their competing. One scene showed one of these women demonstrating starting a green horse and getting on his back for the first time bareback - no helmet, bare feet, wearing shorts and a t-shirt and in the middle of a wire fenced paddock full of jumps, whilst the young teenagers watched. Now she was clearly an accomplished and confident horsewoman and was trying to teach the youngsters about trust and partnership with the horse, which is an admirable thing. But what kind of message is that sending to the watchers? How would she feel if one them attempted the same thing and was seriously hurt or worse? It doesn't bear thinking about.

emlaw, when I was at this riding stable some years ago, I saw this girl riding bareback without wearing a helmet and she didn't care at all! That to me was disturbing.

Helmet Helmet Helmet!!!!!! The kids know here, that even if they're riding their own horses..they HAVE to have a helmet! Proper footwear is very important too! I NEVER let the kids ride with running shoes! EVER! Even if someone is asked to just hold onto someone's horse for just a moment, if they're wearing flip flops...NO WAY! I will run to the house and change shoes if that's the case. We keep spare boots in the barn, just in case.

Here in Sweden we have to have helmets on the riding schools - then you find some pro riders not wearing the helmet when warming up. There have been good discussions in the media and the pro riders have understood they are models for the young ones so there have been great improvement.
I am VERY proud of my students - they know every slight movement means something for the horse and they will always wear helmets when working with the horses on the ground. Some find it funny, at the other hand, the bones can be screwed together and tissues and muscles stitch up - but your BRAIN will not be repaired that easy:)

Keep On Equus All - lovely to read you input on everything! PS more clips on hastpedagog channel on youtube!

I agree with all the comments but I am curious to know (as I have never worn one), does a stetson (cowboy hat!) have any built in protection?

This past fall my daughter was riding the most quiet horse, the one she'd showed all that season. Well, she ended up getting spooked, and taking off, my daughter fell off landed on her head, the horse landed on her legs..(when she changed into a hospital gown we discovered hoof prints on both her legs)..I thought she'd broken her neck :( It was VERY scary. Xrays showed that no bones were broken and she was diagnosed with a severe concussion. When we got home from the hospital we realized, the whole back of her helmet was SMASHED!!!!!! Concussions are VERY serious. For almost a MONTH...she had, what I call, a flat line personality! She basically showed no emotion and seemed to not be interested in anything! She would read in the evening get up the next day and not remember a THING she read. So, I would read TO her every night, so that the next morning I could remind her of what we'd read, that seemed to help. She couldn't remember anything from her classes either (and just starting highschool..well, it was a rough go). She was so excited to be in the advanced classes before the fall, but after, she cried almost every day at home because she couldn't remember anything. After about a month..i said something to her one day, and got a "oh mom!" accompanied by the famous teenager eye roll....All I could think was "wow, I never thought I'd EVER be happy to see that look! SHEEE'S BACK!" :)
Helmets should be a must. If she wasn't wearing it that day, things would have been MUCH MUCH worse :(

Viccihh1 No a stetson or cowboy hat does not have a built in protector. Here in Australia many aussie cowboys wear Akubra's - the Australian version of a stetson and they have no protection at all if something goes wrong.....just stupid if you ask me.

So sorry to hear about your daughter Corbengra - do hope she is fine now. Helmets certainly are a must but many country people in Australis still don't wear them. I never did as a kid - they were just not heard of those days and little has changed in the country. When I returned to my parents property to help out for four years ten years ago I was teased by the men for wearing a helmet for mustering my Dad's cattle. Why wouldn't you wear a helmet - young lively horse who could buck, rocky sreep ground, fairly wild cattle so the pace was often at canter or gallop? Like your daughter I suffered serious concussion and a cracked skull when I was about 20 as the young horse I was riding took fright an threw me head first onto a bitumen road. I was lucky to survive so my helmet stays on these days! Good shoes too - trimming Pie's hooves the other day she forced her back hoof down onto my foot. Her front legs are injured so it is hard for her to hold her back hooves up. It is hard work trimming her and no farrier will do it. Forutnately I had my good boots on but even so I have had a badly bruised foot.

Some of these stories make you realise just how important safety equipment is. It's also essential that it's used correctly - eg any helmet that has had a knock should be replaced, even if it seems to be undamaged. It could be weakened or have tiny cracks in it that can't be seen. I haven't seen all of the Uni videos yet, but taking a quick scroll through the titles I can't see any about safety equipment. I know Monty mentions safety in a lot of the lessons, such as keeping away from the kick zone etc, and the Join Up for kids has some great basic advice which is good for adults too, but wouldn't it be great to see a new series of lessons all about safety equipment and general safety around horses? Things like different types of equipment for both riders and horses (helmets, body protectors, boots, gloves) - why and how to use it, plus basic stuff such as tying up safely, working with horses in enclosed areas, safety on the roads and trails. There are lots of new riders on the forum and it would be really informative, and even experienced people can benefit from a refresher.

I agree emlaw! I would LOVE to see more about safety ON THE GROUND. Now, I am new here, so maybe there's a section on ground work that I have yet to watch. If there are sections on that, I would love to know! I think ground work safety should be priority!
MaggieF, my daughter's doing much better. She's been given the go ahead to start mild riding. Her fall happened back in September. I'm kind of glad that her new, firey, spirited show horse is a little sore right now. I feel the longer she stays out of the saddle, the better. She is riding another mare who's very calm and quiet..so, i don't mind as much her riding that one :)