Conference noted::equitation

    
    
    I'd recommend the "egg head" type hard hat.  As you mentioned it's the
    type you buy covers for.  This type has a harness that holds it
    securely to your head and the covers have little visors. A permanent
    hard visor can hit when you fall, and force the hat down to break your
    nose.  The hard ones can also break off and cause equally bad trouble
    with sharp edges (the last two points are spoken from experience).
    
    Don't spare the expense when it comes to head protection!
    
    I believe the style is Caliente.  
    
    Dani
    

    
    A regular black hat that is Pony Club approved will have a flexible
    brim. Still, not as flexible as a caliente cover. I like the regular
    hardhat over the Caliente, for some reason I just couldn't get used
    to my caliente.
    
    Marianne
    

    I would definitely get a helmet (Caliente and Belmont are two of
    the brand names).  I believe all the helmets are also Pony Club
    approved and some are approved for race jockies.  I some catalogs
    I've seen black velvet covers for these to make them look more like
    the velvet hard hards for showing.  I wear my helmet all the time
    (saved me from getting hit in the back of the head when my horse
    fell in a woodchuck hole!) when riding at home.  I do have a black
    velvet hard hat that I only wear when showing in dressage shows.
    
    If you look inside a regular hard hat and a helmet, generally the
    helmets have more padding.
    
    						Jan

    Can you explain a little better what the difference between the
    two hats is?  I own a black velvet hardhat so I know what they are,
    but I"m not quite sure what you mean by "helmet".
    
    --Laura

    Helmets looks more like a football or motorcycle helmet (i.e. they
    don't have a brim like the black velvet hardhats do).  They also have 
    harnesses that are permanently attached.  Some black velvet hardhats 
    have this, others have removable harnesses or none at all.  The
    helmets I've seen are usually brown or black in color.  It is a lot 
    better to have a hat with a harness since it keeps the hat/helmet on 
    your head when you fall.  There have been several people injured
    because their hardhat fell off their head before they hit the ground 
    (or as they hit).
    
    There are helmet covers that you buy to go over the helmet.  These
    are usually nylon (rayon?) or satin and come in a variety of colors
    and different combinations of colors (triangles, stripes).  I've
    even seen covers in black velvet to make you helmet look more like
    a hardhat.  The covers have a brim which is flexible.  All race 
    jockeys wear helmets with covers which go with their silks.  British
    jockeys wear their covers with the brim only partway down the front of 
    the helmet, so you actually see a part of the helmet above their forehead.
    
    Generally most black velvet hardhats have inflexible brims that
    can cause neck injuries if you land on the brim of the hat.  Since
    a helmet cover brim is flexible, if you land on it, it just flips
    up against the helmet, so you really land on the helmet.
    
    Most horse equipment catalogs carry both hardhats and helmets so
    you might want to look in one for pictures.
    
    						Jan

    I want to bring up the new rule going into effect as of January 1,
    1989, stating all riders, regardless of seat, will have to wear a hard
    hat/helmet at a Massachusetts 4-H show?
    
    I have mixed feelings about this.  Obviously, I'm for safety, and
    children can do the damnedest things...  But does it strike anyone
    else as a bit paranoid and double standard'ish?  If we all wore
    our hard hats all day long, to work, in our cars, to bed, I don't
    doubt several serious head injuries would be averted.   And if we
    made kids ride bundled up in bubble-pack, other nasties could be
    avoided.
    
    Everyone must know atleast one stock or saddle seat HORRIBLE accident 
    story.  But I would guess that the majority of those plots are not set 
    at a horse show.  Most of those stories are about going out on a trail, or
    riding a green horse, etc.  Although it's harder to enforce, as 4-H
    leaders, wouldn't it make more sense to promote rules about wearing 
    protective head gear in those situations?  
    
    What are some other reactions?

    Those who get on a horse without wearing a hard hat obviously have
    nothing inside their skull worth protecting.
    
    Such statistics as there are about sports injuries put riding quite
    near the top of the high risk category. About two thirds of reported
    injuries involve the head and neck and most of these injuries were to
    riders who were not wearing protective headgear.
    
    While you can have a philisophical discussion on an individual's
    right to do as they please without undue regulation, such discussions
    do not reverse the consequences of a cracked skull. The more people
    who get into the habit of taking reasonable precautions for whatever
    activity they indulge in, the less the rest of us will have to pay,
    commiserate, suffer (depending on relationship) for those who don't    

    
    I have a whole bag of horror stories and I feel VERY strongly about
    hard hats/helmets ie. they should be worn by all individuals who
    engage in the rather perilous sport we know and love.  I will not
    teach nor let anyone ride my horses without some kind of protective
    head gear.  Enough, I could go on forever .......  I cannot force
    adults to wear hats (unless they ride my horse) but I can make children.
    As all the horsey clubs enforce a hard hat rule (4H,Pony Club,CEF
    etc).  They even try to get the kids to wear a western style safety
    hat.
    
    By the way, all new hats (velvet not helmet type) now must come
    with collapsable(?) brims (UK, USA, Canada), so you don't get your
    nose broke or black eyes etc (or snapped neck).
    
    Linda

    	We live in an age of insecure people who spend a great deal
    of time pursuing perfect security in all things at all times. This
    is fine except that these people also feel an overwhelming drive
    to also force everyone else to conform to their own idea of what
    should be. This means that they not only espouse their views, but
    they attempt to legislate them. The end result is seatbelt laws,
    helmet laws, and any number of other rules,laws guidelines etc.
    The net result is more loss of individual freedoms. We may all end
    up living in a perfectly safe,bland world where we have no choices
    to make. I for one hope I never see it. I understand the reasons
    for helmets,hard hats, and seat belts. I would never ride a motorcycle
    without a helmet, I've used seat belts for as long as they've been
    available, but I resent being forced to do so by anyone. The
    implication is that I'm somehow mentally deficient and incapable
    of making these decisions for myself. I feel that if I want to take
    the risk of riding without a hard hat, nobody should have the right
    to force me to take any precautions so long as I'm not putting
    anyone but myself at risk. 
    	  As far as show rules, that's up to each show committee, and
    with the liability problems that exist, rules requiring hardhats
    make sense, and at least here, if I don't want to wear one, I don't
    have to. I don't have to enter.
    	By the way, there are hard hat/helmet inserts that can be worn
    inside a western hat for Western style events.

    > By the way, there are hard hat/helmet inserts that can be worn
    > inside a western hat for Western style events.
      
    I have actually seen Western style "hard hats" in catalogs (can't
    remember which catalogs, though).  I can check if you're interested.
    
    						Jan

       I was under the impression that the AHSA was going to require
       even adults to wear helmets in shows.

       As an aside, I spent 3 days in the hospital that a helmet might
       have prevented but at the time (1973) I didn't even know they
       existed. At least we are all aware of them through these laws and
       rules.

       One more thing, hard hats won't stop a broken neck. They protect
       your brain pan. It would be nice if there were courses on how to
       fall and recover. I just got dumped a few weeks back and wrenched
       my arm trying to keep hold of the reins. Watching your horse run
       off down the road while you sit in the dirt is a drag. liesl

    I can honestly say that I am here today because of a hardhat.
    
    12 years ago I was taking a riding lesson and the horse and I were
    simply having a bad night.  I should have paid more attention to
    what was going on, and the result was that the horse shied from
    under me and I went off - I landed on my shoulder blade and my head
    (helmet) hit a rock.  I was knocked unconcious and did not realize
    that my foot was stuck in the stirrup. I was dragged across the
    course and *over* a jump, whereupon my foot came out of the stirrup
    and I was safe.
    
    Shattered shoulder blade, shattered collar bone, broken elbow and
    arm, wrenched knee, and severe concussion but by golly my head stayed 
    in one piece.  I will never ride without a hardhat (with harness)
    even though I hate wearing it; I'd hate a lot more to be a vegetable!
    
    BTW, the saddle I was in at the time had 'quick-release' stirrup
    bars, but they didn't release until my horse was on his way down
    after going over that jump.  
    
    Dana

    
    Re. 10 
    
    I would be interested to know where to find/order Western hard hat
    inserts.  I ridden with a HH all my life, but I have started Western
    and if I am showing I feel naked!
               
    Linda