The Helmet Debate...

By Emma Pidgeon

This particular debate attracts as much heated discussion as the Hendra vaccination. I come from a pony club background and a mother who would’ve ripped me off my horse by my hair had I tried to ride without a helmet. It is this upbringing that makes me absolutely cringe when I see someone riding without a helmet. 

I have seen many riders come through the pony club movement and get to a certain age when they decide they don’t need to wear a helmet anymore. And yes, if they are over 18 it is completely their decision if they are at home. But it is a stupid one. The only benefit in not wearing a helmet is that perhaps you will look cool in your cap or Akubra. It takes nothing away from you to wear a properly fitting, Australian standard helmet. Helmets have come a long way in recent years, gone are the days of the giant ugly white thing stuck to your head. For the most part, they are stylish, lightweight and comfortable. 

Cost is hardly a good defence either. Of course you can find helmets that cost upwards of $500, but in your local tack store, there is a wide variety of helmets costing less than a tank of fuel. Come on guys, common sense. 

‘But I’m a very experienced rider; I always wear a helmet on my young horses, but my highly educated competition horses are very trust worthy’. This is a very common argument. But let’s look at Courtney King-Dye as an example.  Courtney was an Olympic level dressage rider who suffered a traumatic brain injury when the top level horse she was schooling tripped and fell in 2010. Since then she has undergone major physical therapy. “Many people emphasize the daily struggle, but it’s hard to realise that the struggle is all day every day. Speaking is hard. Walking is hard. I had to learn to eat with my left hand, and that’s not pretty,” said King-Dye. 

Let’s move to another example, with more tragic consequences. When my mother was just a small child, she lost her brother Colin in a horse accident. Colin was 16 at the time and working as a contract musterer. He was riding the same horse he rode every day. Doing the same thing he had been doing for years. His horse simply slipped down the bank of a river, Colin hit his head and died. 

Now, let’s not be all glass half empty. There are millions of horse riders across the world who are riding without helmets every day. And most of them will live their whole lives never having a single incident. But it only takes one accident for it to go horribly wrong. I have personally had to replace a helmet after a fall when the fall resulted in a massive gouge out of the helmet. Now, it was not a major fall, I wasn’t injured whatsoever (didn’t even get a day off school) and it was an inconvenience to have to buy a new helmet. But it could very easily have been an absolutely tragic day. 

In recent years there has been a real shift in the helmet movement. After Courtney King-Dye’s accident in 2010, the riders4helmets initiative took shape. Since then it has been growing each year to raise awareness for helmets, and the dangers involved in going without. This campaign has been helped along by Australian riders like, Olympic silver medallist, Megan Jones and other Australian equestrian champions who have hung up their top hats in favour of a helmet. 

There are still many Equestrian athletes around the world who are training without helmets at home, and often in the public eye. This needs to change. If young riders coming up through the ranks of pony club can see idols like Edwina Tops-Alexander riding in a helmet then it may encourage many of them to do the same. The darlings of the Equestrian world need to take a little responsibility for the generation that is inspired by them. It may just save a life.