I always wear a helmet when I ride my horse.
Want to know why?
I’ve witnessed too many wrecks and have friends who have been injured while riding horses many times. Their injuries would most likely have been less severe if they were wearing a helmet. The first one I witnessed was when I was in sixth grade. I was riding with my grandma and her horse bucked her off and drug her. She wasn’t wearing a helmet and ended up in a coma for four days. I rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital, and it was one of the scariest moments of my life. Another one of my friends ended up being airlifted out of the park we ride in with a major head injury. I could go on and on. If you’re still not convinced, here are some statistics that might.
Wearing a helmet can reduce head and brain injuries by 85%, according to the New England Journal of Medicine (2021).
You might be thinking, “It won’t happen to me. I’m careful and my horse is safe.”
Well, so did my grandma, my friends, and even me. We go slow, make decisions as a group, stop if someone is uncomfortable, and work with our horses year round to make sure they are comfortable and confident with new things.
Even so, a bee sting, someone with a butterfly net, even skateboards passing by, could potentially bother our horses and we could end up on the ground. I’ve seen it happen, and it’s even happened to me. My rock solid trail horse dumped me when a turkey flushed out of some tall grass on a ride around the property. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, and even though I didn’t hit my head I was glad I was wearing a helmet just in case.
74.83% of all equestrian deaths are caused by head and neck injuries, according to the National Trauma Data Bank (2021).
Your brain is the most important part of your body. If your brain gets damaged or destroyed, you’re dead because it controls all other functions of your body. I’d say that’s a pretty good reason to wear a helmet.
You might be a very experienced rider, or riding since before you could walk like me. Everyone I know who has been in a wreck has had way more experience riding horses than me. You can never predict what’s going to happen when you’re riding, so wearing a helmet just in case sounds like a much better idea than a major head injury, or worse.
Horseback riding is the leading cause of sports related TBI’s, according to the CDC (2016).
Yeah they might not be the most comfortable, the best looking, too hot or not warm enough. I know mine is hot and uncomfortable in the summer, and not warm enough in the winter. I’d much rather keep my brain as safe as I can, and if that means a little discomfort, I’m ok with that.
Now I’m not saying all head injuries are preventable. If you hit it hard enough, even with a helmet, you’ll get hurt. But if you could prevent it as best as possible, why wouldn’t you?
Whether you wear a helmet or not is completely your personal choice, but from my experience and research, I would always wear one. Helmets save lives, and one could save yours too.
Resources:
Mutore, K., Lim, J., Fofana, D., Torres-Reveron, A., & Skubic, J. J. (2021). Hearing hoofbeats? Think head and neck trauma: a 10-year NTDB analysis of equestrian-related trauma in the USA. Trauma surgery & acute care open, 6(1), e000728. https://doi.org/10.1136/tsaco-2021-000728
Than, K. D. (2021). Sports-related head injury. AANS. Retrieved February 4, 2023, from https://www.aans.org/patients/neurosurgical-conditions-and-treatments/sports-related-head-injury
Winkler, E. A., Yue, J. K., Burke, J. F., Chan, A. K., Dhall, S. S., Berger, M. S., Manley, G. T., & Tarapore, P. E. (2016). Adult sports-related traumatic brain injury in United States trauma centers. Neurosurgical focus, 40(4), E4. https://doi.org/10.3171/2016.1.FOCUS15613
Thank you for your support of helmets Jessica! You were also there and lended aid when I got knocked (slammed) flat on my back and stepped on by the horse I had been riding during our 2021 Wyoming trip. I landed squarely on the back of my head with force, which is one of the most deadly falls one can take. Lucky for me I hadn’t removed my helmet yet; I credit my helmet with possibly saving my life. The contusion on my inner thigh was bad, but not as bad as things could have been had I not had a helmet on.
I won’t ride my bike without a helmet either. I wiped out in 2010 and fell flat on my face, although I sustained a pretty bad cheek contusion, my helmet saved me from a fractured cheek and orbital bones.