From: Charlene
Dear Jessica, Please can you tell me what is the legal rule about wearing helmets for riding, and why the law is different for Western riding? I used to ride when I was a kid and now I am enjoying riding with my son. We always wear our helmets when we ride at home. When we (me, my husband and our son) went on vacation last summer, we visited several Western states and enjoyed some great trail rides. But I found the rules at all the different ranches to be inconsistent! My son always had to wear a riding helmet (he is ten). At some ranches everyone under 18 had to wear a helmet but adults didn't have to. At two places my husband had to sign a special helmet release to say that he knew helmets were safer but he didn't want to wear one (he is an idiot sometimes but I am working on him). At most of the other places nobody made a fuss they just showed us (my husband and myself) some helmets on the wall or in a box and said "you can use one if you want". I always took one, and my husband never did. None of the guides ever wore helmets. At one place they only made kids under fourteen wear helmets, if they were over fourteen they didn't have to. My son wants to go back there as soon as he turns fourteen. What is the rule? Is it fourteen or eighteen? And why aren't the adults told that they need to wear helmets for safety? I loved the rides but I was always a little worried about my husband, with no helmet. I've tried to get him to read the TRUE HELMET STORIES web site, but he won't do it, he just says "Oh, there you go again, you're not going to convince me that way!"
I love riding with my family and I really want to do this again next summer, but I'd like to go somewhere out West where people value brains a little more than the people who ran the places we rode last year. Or is it just some kind of special Western macho thing that nobody thinks their heads can get hurt so they don't have to obey the rules? I love the West and I love riding Western, but I want to know that my husband and son are protecting their heads too. Is there anyplace that's "real West" where the owners care about this? Where can we go next summer where we'll have great Western riding AND helmets, or does a place like that even exist?
First, THERE ARE NO RULES if by "rules" you mean some sort of legislation requiring helmets. Many organizations require that children wear helmets when riding. Some organizations require that adults wear helmets. Some municipalities may require them. But there is no single piece of legislation anywhere that makes helmet use mandatory for all people who ride horseback. The rules set by any given ranch are exactly that: the rules set by that ranch. Just as ten different ranches can have ten different weight limits for riders, they can also have ten different helmet rules - or no rules at all. Ranch A may require helmets for all riders, and Ranch B may require them only for riders under 18, and Ranch C may let fourteen-year-old kids go bareheaded - but as much as you may dislike the policies at Ranch B and Ranch C, neither policy is illegal. Uninformed and misguided, perhaps, but not illegal. If you pay to ride there, you're supporting those policies.
Second, a lot of facilities that offer guided trail rides just don't use or promote the use of helmets - except for children. Naturally, this sends a clear message - your son obviously heard it - that helmets are for little kids, not for "big kids" or adults. Children aren't stupid, and when your son says that he wants to go back to the place where he won't have to wear a helmet, he's not really talking about wearing a helmet, he's talking about being classified as an adult rather than a child.
Third - well, here I can offer you a suggestion. I think that you and your son should take your OWN riding helmets with you on vacation, and wear them wherever you ride. You already own them and use them at home, and you'll know that they fit, that they're in good shape, and that they've been adjusted correctly.
Fourth, I must agree with you: If you want your husband to wear a helmet on these rides, there's no point in the two of you going around and around about it. You've tried that and it hasn't worked. Instead, follow your own good idea and go to a real, top-quality ranch where he will have to wear a helmet, not because YOU told him so, but because it's the rule there. Yes, such a place does exist.
For your next family vacation, consider the Bitterroot Ranch in Wyoming: http://www.bitterrootranch.com/
This one is run by real horsemen, and when riders go out on the trails, they wear helmets. ALL of the riders. Children, adults, and - wait for it - the wranglers themselves. The ranch's owner wears a helmet on trails. Your son will get no mixed messages here - and no wrong messages, either.
You don't have to deprive yourself of the fun of Western riding - or of the beauty of Western scenery, you don't have to take unnecessary risks, and you don't have to argue with your husband about whether he should take unncessary risks. I don't know which Western states you've already visited, but Wyoming is gorgeous. Have fun, and send me a postcard!
Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.