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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| Ok....so I ride with a helmet... I would love to be able to feel comfortable riding without one, mostly now that I am doing barrels and riding a lot more western than English. In the back of my mind, as much as I want to run with my horse and my hair flowing blah blah blah I just cannot make myself take the risk...my family depends on my well being so...why to push it lol. I also understand that accidents happened all the time and helmets don't always help but to me it is the same principle as wearing a seatbelt in a car....I always click it.
Anyways, I have this dear friend who started to date this cowboy wannabe and I cannot start telling you guys how much grief he is giving me over riding with a helmet. He was dead serious when he told me that if I wanted to be a barrel racer, I should not ride with a helmet, that riding with a helmet would be a disgrace. Let me remain you again that he WAS NOT JOKING! I am to the point of telling him off but it might put some strain in the friendship. It's getting to the point that I don't even want to ride with them anymore. So, as you guys can see, I am dealing with the Non-helmet nazi here.
I have been so self conscious about riding with my helmet around western riding people, mostly around the barrel racers but I am trying to tell myself that wearing a helmet doesn't make me less of a rider....so when I start going to the barrel races, I will put my lid on (that's what my husband calls it), do my thing and if people laugh at me...let it be so....I'm will be glad that I was able to put a smile on their face  |
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  Desert Diva
Posts: 4946
  
Location: The birthplace of Honest Abe | I would tell him to mind his own business and when he is paying your bills he can put his two cents in. If I have to wear hat I almost always wear my helmet instead. A lot of people are starting to ride in them at barrelraces. Wear your helmet, your brains tell you thanks. |
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 Stinky Cat Owner
Posts: 4097
Location: Oregon | Just sleep good at night knowing that you are by far smarter then him and with your brain intact!  |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | Tell them all to stuff it if they are giving you grief.
Nobody I know cares if you wear a helmet or not. All I care about is what your time is and if you are going to outrun me! (LOL)
Seriously though, I am seeing folks at bigger shows wearing them and it's
not a big deal. ESPECIALLY at jackpots or D races... if people laugh at you, that's pretty rude and childish. They are in the minority, but nobody cares either way... same thing with shin guards (in my mind).
I don't wear one but I could seriously care less what other people do. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Ask him if he thinks the bull riders are a disgrace, too. I have just started back riding and let me tell you, the helmet gives me so much more confidence. When I was younger I would never have worn a helmet but at my age, I just feel more confident riding in one. I am always by myself when I ride and now if I come in without it, my son and asks me where my helmet is! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1096
| I wear one. I got a concussion from a farm accident this last fall and still have the dent in my forehead from it. So in a nutshell I kind of need to be wearing one because of that plus I was making my girls but not me. Which didn't make much sense either since I'm always on the younger and more powerful horses. I guess I'm too old to care what people think. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1034
| He's clearly a wannabe. Does he even ride? If he does, ask him where his training wheels are.
My MIL still has seizures from a fall she took 40 years ago. I've seen plenty of 1D riders in helmets. Brush him off. |
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 Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | I bought a helmet a couple of years ago to use when I was riding my colts when they came home from the race track, as I ride at home in the evenings and usually am there by myself. I've now got my colts ready to season, and I admit that I have struggled with my pride in wearing it in public. So far i've only been to three places, none of which were actual barrel races, but i've warn it all three times. I do feel silly with it on and think that I look silly in it, but i'm trying to really commit myself to wearing it every time I ride or make a run. I have joked about getting a silly helmet cover to kind of mock myself.
The way I see it, the majority of the body can recover from a traumatic injury should you get in a wreck.....the brain cannot. So i'm on the "helmets are cool" bandwagon. |
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 Thread Killer
Posts: 7545
| Don't think for one minute that protecting yourself is an act of "disgrace" in barrel racing. The people that try to make you feel bad are nothing but insufferable fools and their "opinions" are mindless drivel.
Edited by Just Plain Lucky 2014-05-12 10:55 AM
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| You know...the last time I ran a rodeo I decided to not wear my helmet and opt for a cowboy hat instead.
The next night I watched a friend take a really scare fall while pullin her horse up. She walked out of the arena, but didn't remember turning the third barrel and couldn't find her trailer. Totally freak accident.
I'll be wearing my lid at the next rodeo. Tell him to screw off. Tell your friend to tell him to screw off or they can both screw off, your noggin your choice. |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | Honestly, people that are condescending in either direction can go pound sand. People need to mind their own. If you are an adult, you can make your own choice and the naysayers be darned. If someone wants to make fun of another person, they are probably trying to build themselves up by tearing others down. |
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 On the Countdown
Posts: 2934
Location: Texas | I wore a helmet when I did the English stuff, but I did western before that. I probably should wear one, but I don't. I took a fall several years back and remember the brim of my cowboy hat hitting the ground first and slid towards the second. But I do so many other things to that should require a helment and I don't wear one. I don't think differently about anyone that wears one, very smart of them. Do not let the feeling people are judging you differently. More and more people are wearing them around here. |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25352
Location: Bastrop, Texas | Tell him to go ____ himself. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 408
| THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE "LID" support. My husband rodeo all his life, he rode broncos and bulls. Back then they never wore helmets or vests and he sure wishes they did, getting up in the mornings might be a bit easier now and the so many concussions that he experienced do take a toll on him.
He definitely supports me on my decision to wear a helmet and not once he has ever made fun of me. Maybe I should focus more on that and not even give a thought what others think...but after all .... We are humans and once in a while we do get aggravated |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Im recovering from a concussion I sustained a week ago from a horse I got thrown from. I don't even remember saddling the horse, getting on the horse, riding the horse, or whatever happened to get me thrown. It was a client horse. I don't remember coming in the house, going to the ER, most of the stay at the ER, and even on the way home I was repeating myself and texting my friend the same questions over and over.
I am in the process of getting a helmet, and whoever criticizes helmets in the western world should be ashamed of themselves. It doesn't take anything away from my accomplishments. and wearing a helmet won't make my 1D horse a 3D horse. It will make me a safer rider- that's all. |
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Expert
Posts: 1226
| I agree. No one I know cares whether or not anyone wears a helmet or not. Why would anyone care. I don't get it. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| I started wearing a helmet after an accident and its been the best decision. In any horse sport people will judge you on everything. i.e. what saddle are you riding in, the type of bit you are using, and so on. It doesnt matter what others think, so be yourself. Ive had some weird looks from others but never had someone laugh at me. Ive had several people ask why I started wearing one and I told them. I usually get the comment, "That was a smart move, I should start wearing one." I saw a gal that was very uncomfortable wearing a helmet at a barrel race and once she saw me riding around, she got a smile on her face.... nowing that someone else did it too. Plus Ive seen gals run the fastest time at races that wear helmets. Its not a fashion show, its what works for you. Dont change because someone is being a bully about it. |
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 Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | I would suggest to him that maybe he should have spent more time wearing a helmet because he is obviously brain damaged......but that's just me. |
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 Husband Spoiler
Posts: 4151
Location: North Dakota | Be you! Be different! Wear your helmet and wear it proudly! You are protecting your most important organ! Don't be ashamed about it! If he doesn't think "real barrel racers" wear helmets show him this record setting run made by the GREAT barrel racer Nicole Aichele. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48buKymBrGY |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | A lot of people barrel race with helmets. Nicole Aichele had the world record on the standard size pattern and she wore a helmet. I grew up doing 4H and high school equestrian team and it was mandatory we all wear helmets so I don't find them odd at all, although I don't wear one. |
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