One of the simplest things you can do to improve safety around horses is to wear a correctly fitting riding helmet.
Fitting a Riding Helmet:
When shopping for a riding helmet wear your hair the way you do when you ride, eg. if you pull your hair into a pony tail for riding you should try hats on while your hair is in a pony tail. Different hairstyles will alter the fit.
Different helmets will fit different shaped heads so try lots on until you find the perfect fit.
If possible have a qualified member of hat fitting staff fit your helmet. Beta ( the British Equestrian Trade Association) and some helmet manufacturers train retailers in the correct fitting of riding hats.
Get your
head measured. A tape measure should be used to measure the
circumference of your head where the helmet will sit when fitted - about
1/2 an inch above the eyebrows, just above the ears.
A correctly
fitting helmet should fit snugly all around the head, there shouldn't be
any gaps. Don't mistake the snug fit for tightness and buy a hat that
is too big for you.
The helmet should not slip up or down or from side to side when you shake your head.
Adjust the harness, chin strap first, then the back strap. You should be able to yawn comfortably. If the harness has to be too tight to make the hat stay on it's the wrong fit for you, try another.
You might also be interested to read about when your horse riding helmet should be replaced
This post is part of Riders 4 Helmets Internation Helmet Awareness Day
Image: Culnacreann via Wikimedia Commons licensed underCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
If manufacturers would listen to their customers - or potential customers!!! - then they would offer more sizing options, not excluding adjustable helmets.
I ended up importing my helmet from the US, because I have a very small head, and UK helmets are often only available in sizes 54cm and larger. (I'm a 50.5cm)
There are helmets out there in that size. Kiddie helmets which are often cartoony and come in horrible plastic colors (which appeal to kids, but I wouldn't be caught dead in.) Or they are traditional velvet covered one-style-is-good-enough-deal-with-it hats.
No thanks.
It took me over a year to replace a helmet that had slackened so much over time, I may as well not wear one for all the protection it offered.
There need to be options, and even if I have to special order a smaller size, that's fine. I will. But if I don't even have the OPTION, then I can't buy the helmet I want.
(Saying no one buys that size is bull, if it's not *offered* in that size. I can't buy what isn't on offer, so yeah, there won't be sales for it.)
P.S. There are 3 of us at my yard with hat sizes of 49cm, 50.5cm, and 51cm. None of us can find helmets, and when we do -- we often buy 3 of them!
Posted by: Silke | 07/13/2014 at 06:15 PM