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Post by Disgusted on Jul 10, 2007 14:32:40 GMT
Was disgusted to see on my way to work this morning GB dressage rider Jodie Lister riding along the road without a hat on. Its not clever - you only have one head - with traffic & stuff nowadays what a stupid thing to do & what a bad example to set to other riders, especially children.
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Post by piper on Jul 10, 2007 15:37:03 GMT
Surely,her choice disgusted.She's not going to hurt anybody but herself.Fed up with this nanny state attitude to everything remotely risky . Teach your children by all means but don't expect everyone else to think Oh must be a good example today !!
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Post by PB on Jul 10, 2007 15:44:20 GMT
If she came off & had a severe head injury its unlikely any insurance she has will pay out therefore its my taxes & your taxes that would go towards the cost of someone wiping her bum for the next however many years!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by piper on Jul 10, 2007 16:59:28 GMT
Gladly pay for her and her freedom of choice rather than some of the other things I am forced to pay for.If people are given all the evidence and still chose to do the opposite then that is their right.Smoking is a prime example, so much evidence and sane and sensible people still do it.Their choice. I don't remember spinal units and hospital wards being full to the brim with horse riders when I was a child and we didn't wear hats.
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Post by ickelford on Jul 10, 2007 17:08:11 GMT
I agree it is her choice and I'm not getting involved in the debate, but I was under the impression it was actually against the law to ride on public roads without a hat...or is just what my mum used to tell me so I'd wear one??
This is a genuine question not trying to get on my moral high horse!!
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Post by hubmug on Jul 10, 2007 17:18:53 GMT
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Post by snowman nli on Jul 10, 2007 17:35:22 GMT
I think it should be illegal to not wear a hat on the highway - imagine your child on their way to school/etc witnessing a rider hatless coming off - i don't need in go into details. It is your own choice on private property - but in the public eye it shouldnt be - esp for innocent, easily influenced eyes
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Post by ednalad on Jul 10, 2007 17:52:28 GMT
If someone is that STUPID to ride without a hat on regardless if they are novice or on a GB team....then they have NO sympathy from me if something happens to them.....complete idiots if you ask me.....RANT OVER.......idiots!!!!!!
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Post by marymarynli on Jul 10, 2007 18:18:36 GMT
I had a bad fall show jumping last year when my horse slipped up on the flat going round the corner of the (dangerous) surface that we were competing on I landed head first on a piece of stone that had some how appeared in the arena ...I was wearing a hat but still suffered severe concussion didnt have a clue who I was or were I was for days....Doubt I would be here today if I had not been wearing my hat .... You only have one life and its precious much more important than vanity in my opinion
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Post by cracker on Jul 11, 2007 8:50:09 GMT
I think that they should make it law, if it isn't, it is law for bicycle riders!! Isn't it? But I also agree that it is personal choice, if you want to risk a fatal accident by not wearing one. I use to ride as a child without one,bareback with only a headcollar! But traffic not as bad then. If I rode now I would NEVER not wear one nor would I jump without a back protector, but that's another choice.
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Post by julie on Jul 11, 2007 9:00:15 GMT
I used to live in the same small village as Tanina Rushton and I frequently rode an unbroken (!!) 3 yr old hunter whilst leading off him my two ponies up the main (only) street! And at local shows we used to do ChaseMeCharlie's - bareback! Those were the days....however, in the same small village, just outside Tanina's house, a young mother was riding a normally well behaved horse who reared up, she fell off, her hat wasnt fastened properly and she died within minutes...
I agree about the nanny state but we do have a duty to try and prevent accidents occuring surely - just common sense after all? And given how loopy most dressage horses are I am amazed someone hacks theirs (LOL!) but think as standard practice most dressage riders seem to do most of their school work hatless!
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Post by Guestless on Jul 11, 2007 9:08:34 GMT
I think we can all look back and see when we have done things that were probably not in the best interests of personal safety. As long as we take responsibility for our own actions, then IMO it's up to us what we do. I agree it's probably not advisable to ride without a hat, but people do it all the time and it's really down to personal choice - no-one seems to comment when the stunt riders ride with no hats so why is it a big deal when another top rider choose not to wear one?
For the record, I usually always wear a hat but I have often jumped on one of the ponies to ride them back to the field without one.
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Post by piper on Jul 11, 2007 10:00:00 GMT
Here Here guestless.After all H.M The Queen chooses to ride without a hat.Just for the record I taught both my children to ride WITH hats but now they are over 21 they can please themselves.The world we live in today seems to think that Ban it if you don't agree with it ,is the only answer.If we don't exercise our freedom of choice for the little things,when the big things come along we will have forgotten that we ever had that freedom !!Thats why kids today have no common sense,they don't know what it is, we have legislated it all away !!Sorry rant over but that and litter(don't get me started on that one ) are my 2 pet hates.
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doldy
Full Member
Posts: 254
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Post by doldy on Jul 11, 2007 10:24:46 GMT
Disgusted-Where did you see her?
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Post by freedom on Jul 11, 2007 11:31:39 GMT
glad you don't go to other counties and watch there riding as GB is one of very few who do ride with hats! At the end of the day every one can do what they want when they want. We are governed now adays by so much white paper from government, stop having ago about someone who wants to do what they want.
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Post by viking on Jul 11, 2007 11:35:20 GMT
If it's made illegal to ride without one, will that rule also extend to vaulting lol!
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Post by Gee Gee on Jul 11, 2007 11:38:38 GMT
All this from people in a sport that actively encourages young children to wear silly top hats and gallop round arenas in the hope of another championship!!
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Post by well said on Jul 11, 2007 11:47:21 GMT
well said i see then to be more dangerous than without one, along with there flapping outfits.
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Post by Charles Owen on Jul 11, 2007 12:59:36 GMT
To all you Mums out there Just think about this for a few moments. You may just appreciate why a hat is so important.
My 12 yr old daughter fell and hit her head behind her ear on the kerb. She was riding a bike, not her pony, and was not wearing a hat. (This was quite a few years ago) She was found unconsceous in the road and rushed to hospital. She had a fractured scull with blood coming from her ear and was also vomiting up blood in the hospital. The impact had purforated her eardrum which left her permanantly deaf and one side of her face was paralyzed. It took her months of hospital treatment to recover. She was very ill and only had very short term memory for a long time.
OK so this was a cycling accident, but it could easily have been a fall from her pony although she was always made to wear her riding hat. A few weeks after her accident another young girl from our next village did have an accident on a pony and she was not so fortunate - SHE DIED.
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Post by piper on Jul 11, 2007 13:36:38 GMT
I'm sure no one would advocate letting children ride without a hat.All I am saying is let those adults who ride make their own choice don't make things illegal and turn people into criminals for simply making an informed choice
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Post by NFP on Jul 11, 2007 13:40:35 GMT
There are people out there who collate accident statistics for use by people like insurance companies to set their rates & health & safety organisations - one more nasty equestrian head injury could mean increased insurance premiums & even more health & safety legislation.
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Blood Clot To the Brain
Guest
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Post by Blood Clot To the Brain on Jul 11, 2007 14:34:07 GMT
I too fell off a horse when I was 13, I DID have a riding hat on and I suffered serious fractures to my skull and a blood clot to the brain, This then affected my hair and I then developed Alopecia due to the seriousness of the accident and my hair has never grown back. IMO I do think it should be the law to wear riding hats, its not nice when you hurt your self or see others injured due to a fall. When my little girl grows up she WILL wear a hat or wont ride, same goes for a bike!
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Post by rubbish on Jul 11, 2007 16:00:35 GMT
Any one who thinks it is their right NOT to wear a riding should be made to pay for private medical insurance why should the rest of us pay taxes for you prats that do not wish to protect yourselves if you want to risk your life that is up to you but it is not that simple you are risking being hospitalised having operations and long term care etc if you get brain damage. Our NHS is under enough strain. I wish this country would get a grip and i do not agree withthe nanny state but this issue is totally different
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Post by Really on Jul 11, 2007 16:05:49 GMT
She's not going to hurt anybody but herself. So wouldn't she hurt those left behind if she had a fatal accident or was left in a vegitative state for the rest of her life?
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Post by piper on Jul 11, 2007 16:16:57 GMT
My point exactly if I want to risk my life it is up to ME,I pay taxes,Oh Boy do I pay taxes and actually I do have private medical insurance,not that riding without a hat is the reason I do(mainly to do with the state of the NHS) I didn't realise it was in such a state because they are all soooooo busy looking after the head injury cases who were riding without a hat !!Get a grip folks I'm not saying we should all go riding without hats just that the small minority who do should be allowed to make that choice.As it happens I do wear a hat when riding...my choice.
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Post by clobo121082 on Jul 11, 2007 16:18:26 GMT
I am to scared not to ride with a hat for that above reason and the thought of what my mum would say (or do) to me if i rode without one and came to grief. She has always insisted i wear one and at 24 i still totally agree with her, i just dont see why you wouldnt wear one? Her dissapointment in me would worry me just as much as the injury itself and thats enough to put me off never not wearing a hat!!
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Highlander
Junior Member
Back working with Horses
Posts: 57
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Post by Highlander on Jul 11, 2007 17:08:39 GMT
You actually have a duty to your family and friends to act safely
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Post by mara on Jul 11, 2007 17:32:19 GMT
Ok so let's look at the scenario in a different way - firstly - you don't have children, family or any dependents, anyone who loves you & cares about you. Great - off you trot, hatless & have that fall. If you're lucky you're left in a vegetative state for the rest of your life or certainly wheelchair bound with limited motion with the state picking up the bill for your longterm care. If unlucky??, you die. What about your horse - who looks after him/her after the accident, of course providing he hasn't galloped headlong into oncoming traffic causing a second accident & killing himself & possibly other road users in the process? Who knows, perhaps if you'd had a hat on, you'd have remained conscious enough to be able to hold onto him & prevent the 2nd accident? Take it from another perspective - the person who finds you & scrapes you off the floor - you really think it's fair on a complete stranger, possibly a child to live with that memory for the rest of their lives - watching the life slowly ebb away from you as they hold you in their arms whilst an ambulance gets to you - but then it doesn't matter does it - you had freedom of choice & they could have driven past & you're dead by now anyway? The person who has seen your beloved horse crash through their windscreen, severing an artery & coating them with your horse's blood - how do you think they would feel if the accident could have been prevented if you'd been wearing appropriate protection. Then of course, maybe you do have family, friends, dependents - how on earth do you think they'd feel knowing you'd probably have survived the fall if you'd been wearing a hat?? So no, it's not just the stupid rider who gets hurt, it's everyone else around them. It isn't a legal requirement for cycling helmets to be worn on the roads - yet. Perhaps it should be as I get sick of seeing adults making their children wear one but not wearing one themselves - talk about double standards & an adult is just as likely to get hit by a car leaving their children without a parent. On occasion, the nanny state is required, if only to protect idiots from themselves.
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woof
Full Member
Posts: 358
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Post by woof on Jul 11, 2007 18:09:05 GMT
Well put Mara, I'm also glad that bikes came up i too can't stand to see parents that seem to think they don't need helmets but their kids do, fashion victims if you ask me, I look a prat in my bike helmet and my riding hat along with my illuminous clothing but do i care do I hell. I want to make sure if there is going to be an accident, heaven forbid, that i have done everything in my power to prevent it. I too can't stand this nanny state and fully believe in choice but surely this subject is a no brainer, why would you choose not to put a hat on!!!!
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Post by elmere on Jul 11, 2007 19:04:54 GMT
I absolutely agree that you have a duty to your friends and family, how selfish!!! Surely if you can afford to buy a top class dressage pony then you can afford to buy a nice comfy hat? Why not wear one?
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