Safety First... Weighing In on Helmets

I'm all for taking a proactive stance on safety when working with horses... they are large, powerful animals with a highly developed flight instinct, and undoubtedly possess the potential to cause great harm when alarmed.

Assuming that I'm speaking to responsible ADULTS here, my belief is that each rider or handler of horses should incorporate whatever safety measures they feel are best for their skill level and peace of mind, and allow others the freedom to do the same.
  
Peruse any online horse forum, and you'll be treated to the Great Helmet Debate, which is pretty much just the two opposing sides yelling insults at each other, with both factions far too emotionally involved to make a thought-out, concise argument.

 If you can't enjoy your ride because you're worried about falling on your head, then by all means put on a helmet, quit worrying, and have fun.
By the same token, if you're not so inclined to make safety equipment part of your riding experience, that's fine too.
There's no need to inflict your personal opinion of helmet usage on anyone else... their situation and life isn't yours to control.

Personally, I weigh in on middle-ground about helmet usage.
I wore a helmet all day, every day, for 22 years in my job as a Jockey (and those were the old style Caliente helmets with no ventilation and very heavy by today's standards).
I don't mind wearing one, but I seldom do these days.

I don't give a rat's ass whether my riding pals wear helmets or not, and don't actually even notice who is or isn't during our rides.

Now, if one of my riding buddies were to randomly and routinely dive off her horse head-first putting her at high-risk of injury; then in the name of friendship, I'd speak up in favor of not only wearing a helmet, but also incorporating full body armor, air-bags, velcro...
whatever might help keep her safe.
Otherwise, I just don't care... take whatever safety measures (not just helmets) you feel are best for YOU, and allow me to do the same.

I fully understand and agree with those who have dependant children/families in taking all precautions they deem necessary to insure stability in their lives. They cannot and should not risk accidents, and a helmet is a good safety tool for anyone concerned about possible head injuries.

However, those same people seem to forget that not everyone shares the same worries and responsibilities... or wants to.

For example, when I decided to make the very dangerous sport of riding horse races my primary career, I knew that the risk of being injured or killed was elevated above that of someone with a desk job... so I made the conscious decision to never have children, nor be accountable to anyone but myself for my actions.
Just as then, if I were to crack my head open on a horse today, there'd be no one inconvenienced but myself.

I personally know people who cower throughout life recoiling in fear from every risk no matter how slight, so consumed with their anxiety that they never (in my opinion)  "live life to its fullest"... and I'm not talking about just riding horses here.
As an adrenaline junkie, I'm generally filled with pity towards them because it seems to me that they're missing half the fun of living... UNTIL they choose to lecture me on wearing a helmet when I ride a horse, and especially when they insinuate that a lack of education on the subject is the problem.

Believe me, I understand the risks and implications all too well.
No one rides racehorses for 22 years without being able to name at least a dozen close friends who are either dead or crippled for life.
That said, only one of my pals ever died from head injuries... her horse hit the rail during a race, catapulting her into the furlong pole head-first at about 40 mph, cracking her helmet like a egg, and her skull as well.
NONE of the jockeys I rode with at the track was ever condemned to riding a wheelchair for the rest of their lives by a head injury.
Spinal injuries (broken backs) accounted for most.
But hard to draw a comparison to the hobbyist rider (who often hits her head in a fall), because these riders were far above average in their skills... they were usually injured during the course of a gory accident, and not just because they slipped off their horse during a spook or something equally as mundane.

I can't speak for everyone of a no-fear personality type, but as for myself, I assure you that the risks I take are calculated... if the odds seem to be against me, I take the appropriate action to level the playing field (ie: safety gear).
If a horse is unbroke, known to perform triple back flips at random, or otherwise a *bad risk*, I'll strap on a helmet... otherwise, I have the confidence in my horsemanship skills to ride bare-headed.
MY choice, MY decision... and willing to accept any consequences.

I'm often annoyed by people who flatly state that "horses are unpredictible safety risks"... maybe for THEM they are, but in all honesty, after riding thousands of horses over a lifetime (many of them lunatics), I'm never *caught off guard* by anything a horse does... especially these basically unathletic trail riding horses I'm partial to in my retirement.
Horses can absolutely be catagorized by temperament as to how they will respond to stimuli, and to someone with a widely varied background in riding, they are very predictible and never surprising. 

Calculating my personal odds, the chances of me striking my head falling from a horse are very slim... the accident would have to be so freakish as to be improbable.
I seldom part ways with a horse unless he totally falls down flat on his face, and if he does, I'm athletic enough to jump (usually landing on my feet) as he goes down.
After showing open jumpers, riding racehorses, and retraining rogues for other people for so many years, there's pretty much nothing that the gaited riding horses I favor in the autumn of my life can do to shake me, and with their slow reaction times, I'm never "caught off guard" by anything they do... decreasing the odds of injury even more.
I've also never been "top heavy" as a rider.
If I'm going down, I always land rightside-up... maybe sitting on my butt, or on my knees, but never flat on my back, flat on my face, or head first... this is where athleticism in a rider comes into play as a safety feature...  and vaulting (or being catapulted) off dozens of ponies as a child teaches you to land on your feet and learn to fall correctly to avoid injury.

If you started riding later in life... wear a helmet!
You lack the early childhood experience on cranky ponies that it takes to make a rider who can commit to an impending fall without becoming tense... and stiffening up is what injures you.

If I have a horse bucking wildly, and I feel myself coming loose with no chance of saving myself, I simply  loosen-up and commit to my fall... which allows me to emerge unscathed.

Only one time in my entire career as a professional rider has wearing a helmet made a difference in whether I was injured or not.
1981... at Charles Town Track, as the jockey on Bin Growing.
Bin was a speedball, broke fast from the gates and was far in front of the pack when he went down, hurtling me into a rolling fall onto the track surface.
I did NOT hit my head when I landed, but my helmet proved useful as the other 9 horses trampled me... I took a few glancing blows to the head as they passed, even though I made myself the smallest target possible.
Had I not been run-over, wearing the helmet would have been moot for me, even in a sudden spill at a full run.

Sounds egotistical, right?
Damn right... but at the same time, I feel that my level of expertise in the saddle reduces my odds of accidental injury far below that of an average hobbyist rider.
And I'm willing to accept my personal odds, as they are favorable to me.

I'm not advocating that anyone throw away their helmet... to the contrary, I feel that MOST people should wear one, and that novices be helmeted not only in the saddle, but also on the ground.
I've seen beginners do some pretty stupid stuff (like holding a hoof up incorrectly for cleaning while putting their head under a horse so far that a swipe at a fly on the belly by a hind hoof could crack their head open)... and since they depend on luck more than skill, a helmet is a great idea.

Currently I ride with people who are accomplished horsemen and excellent riders... they all wear helmets *most* of the time.
We don't judge each other or try to control each other's choices in safety gear.
We HAVE FUN and don't focus on the stuff that is none of our business.
I'd like to see more riders adopt this attitude.