Wear the damn hat!

I grew up in a non-horsey household. When I got my first pony, my dad said if he caught me riding without my helmet, that was it. No hat, no horse.

Online, there's often discussion around whether wearing a safe riding hat should be enforced, or if it's personal choice to take that risk.

Obviously I'm currently in England, where it's pretty unusual to see someone riding without a hat. I always rode/ ride in a hat, no exceptions, but so did everyone else. It seems like a lot of the talk on line is more American, but let's face it - they dominate a lot of online spaces, right? That said, I see more with the new generation of riders coming through over here, it seems to be becoming more acceptable to not wear a hat. Is that fair? Idk. It does seem to be more common now than it was before my horsey break.

I sold my old mare when I was 18, then moved out, got married, bought a house, that kinda stuff. I then bought Belle when I was 23, 4 years ago. So, a 5 year break from horses. I think that's partly why I'm so committed now, you know? I've done both: horses, and no horses. I don't like no horses in my life!

I tend to look at horse ownership through two lenses: pre-break, post-break. There's so many differences, mostly for the better. But, hats do seem to be becoming less-'necessary'.

TW: graphic description of a bad horse fall

Anyway, 12 years ago, I had a total freak accident. I was cantering in the school on my new mare (I'd only had her two weeks!) and I took a corner too wide, bent her in but there was a jump wing in the way, and we fell.

I remember all of it.

Seeing her face hit the ground and her neck sliding along the floor, my head being pummelled into the ground, the crunching in my neck on impact, then being flipped as she stood up. My feet were still in the stirrups. I remember the fear. I remember another livery running over, shouting to make sure I was... Okay. I remember not being able to move - was it the shock, or was it my neck? The neck brace (apparently I'm a turtle size, I think? Super short neck ); the argument over my absolute refusal to go in the air ambulance (fear of heights, oops - not while I'm conscious!); the call to my dad to tell him there's been an accident; the ride to the hospital with another 'mam' kinda livery for company (you know the type - the gorgeous, proper mam type of girl at the yard, the ones you adore!).

Traumatic af at 15 by the way. However, I did ace my GCSE Maths mocks high as a kite on painkillers 3 days later, and I'm still quite proud of that actually

Anyway, it wasn't fun. Thankfully, I walked away relatively unscathed. The doctor said I was lucky to be wearing my hat. He said were I not, the outcome would have been a lot worse. The hat was shattered.

You should always replace your hat after any fall where you hit your head - yes, even that super expensive one you've only worn once - but there was no questioning it after that fall. It was destroyed. All from a total freak accident, really. Rider error mostly, undiagnosed front arthritis in the mare (which, to be fair, did make her stumble quite a bit as I got to know her), but nothing overly risky or, well, anything. Just shitouttaluck. We weren't jumping, weren't on bad footing, weren't even really going that fast. It was simply a bad fall.

It was a decent physical recovery, although I do still have problems with my neck and upper back today because of it. But the mental recovery was so. much. harder.

I don't think we really talk about that enough as riders, do we?

If you ride often enough for long enough, you'll probably have a fall that hurts a little more than the others. But, we generally walk away from them. Falls are a common occurrence with riding, heck I fell off a few weeks ago and got straight back on, and I'm a very broken person at the best of times lol. But I think we're expected to laugh them off, even if it actually did quite hurt.

It's kind of like, if you're not seriously injured then it shouldn't bother you. But confidence with horses is such a funny thing, which is frankly another post in itself! But, it can be so hard to build and be broken in a second.

I go through phases with my confidence, you know? I'm pretty open about it - I mean, audhd, I'm open about everything - but I try to talk openly about it, ask for help from people I trust, and always work through it. It comes and goes, but it does always come back. I'm currently really good, but equally it can be so bloody hard. If you're currently there, not feeling your best, losing the love a little, I see you. It's a hard hobby to have. But god, when it all comes right, isn't it worth it?

This is getting too long, and I could talk about anything horses all day long, so I'll end it there. Basically, the message of this is wear the damn hat because it could save your life, and if it does, it's okay to be mentally shite!

Feel free to add your thoughts, I'll happily chat to anyone about anything horsey all day long!