A lot of my friends are cowboys and make fun of me wearing a helmet when I ride. Now I will confess, there have been times where I have schooled on the flat without a helmet - shame on me, I know; but I absolutely wear a helmet every time I jump a horse.
Well now I need to buy a new helmet, thanks to the thorn tree in Kansas, and was planning on buying another Charles Owen J3 - which I have been riding in since 2002-ish. I love this helmet, this will be my 4th one - yeah, I've fallen (hard and on my head) a lot, oh well - at least I always get back on, right?
I mainly just wanted to write about this topic for two reasons:
1.) Make sure people know you need to purchase a new helmet after ANY direct hit (this includes dropping the helmet on a hard surface, even if your head isn't in it!)! You'd be surprised how many people I've seen ride around in helmets with cracks in it! Really people?! Come on! My other fav is people riding with the harness undone - it won't work if it doesn't stay on!!!!
2.) See what other people's favorite helmets are...what do you ride in on a daily basis? For shows?
PS: Have y'all seen this new toy?! They never had anything like this when I was a kid!!!
3 comments:
hi- enjoying popping by your blog every now and then!
i always wear my helmet, too. i had a pretty bad fall a few years ago where my horse and i just freakishly slipped on pavement and went down sideways (with half of me still under him). i was wearing my helmet and didn't suffer head injuries (i did shatter 2 bones in the hand that ended up under my body and his). anyway, that experience makes it a LOT easier to laugh off people who tease me for wearing one. i am honestly not even thrilled about going out on an easy hack with people who don't wear them. as with my accident, even the most mellow of horses can have accidents.
i think another important thing to note is not only that the chinstrap be latched, but that it been latched properly. a loose, hanging chinstrap does no good at protecting against head unjury either (and i know of some cyclists--similar concept, after all-- who can attest to that unfortunately). it really needs to fit snuggly.
my show helmet is a charles owen wellington. i can't even remember what brand my everyday helmet is--something **ASTM F-1163-04a/SEI Certified, of course!
I think the best way to approach buying a new helmet is to narrow your choices down to really good helmets (relegate being frugal to less important items) and start trying them on. While shopping for my current helmet, I tried on lots of Charles Owens and GPA helmets but ended up buying a GPA Titium because it fit the best. I love it. Once I put it on, I forget I'm wearing it.
LOL, my favorite is definitely the people that ride around with the harness undone. What's the point? Isn't it annoying to have the harness flapping around your face anyway?
I school everyday in a Troxel Legacy Slim Profile. I love it!
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