If horseback riding is part of your plans this summer, PLEASE wear a helmet!  Regardless of the saddle you ride, please wear a helmet.  Even if you’re only walking, please wear a helmet.

Horses trip. Riders fall.  Protect all that education you have invested in. Please wear a helmet.

Please read what Julie Goodnight, a professional clinician, ranch horse competitor and all-round good egg, has to say about helmets in her brilliant blog: http://juliegoodnightontheroad.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-10th-is-national-helmet-awareness.html#comment-form

BTW… if you’re looking for a QUALIFIED riding instructor, I highly recommend looking one up on www.CHAinstructors.com.

Fit matters! Learn how to properly fit a helmet here: http://bit.ly/dvm3K1 or http://bit.ly/bj6esw 

GET A HELMET! I like Troxels:  www.troxel.com

Source: http://www.usdf.org/press/news/view-news.asp?news=376

Here’s my advice: Start your search with one of the accreditation groups! That way you can be assured that the person you’re paying to learn from has met some sort of standardized criteria to teach and knows the precautions that need to be taken to be safe around a horse.  Unfortunately, too many riders declare themselves qualified to teach riding and train horses when they really shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a teaching or training situation.  Protect yourself with information!  

There are a number of groups that certify riding instructors, but the one I’m most familiar with is Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA). There are no free passes in CHA. All the folks who are listed as certified trainers have taken the classes and are ranked according to their skill set. ALL OF THEM!

I wish I would have known about this long ago. I could have saved thousands of dollars wasted with unqualified charlatans and folks who rest on their achievements from 20 years ago. 

Repeat after me:

• Just because someone owns a horse doesn’t make them an expert. It makes them someone who owns a horse. 
• Just because someone calls themselves a trainer, doesn’t mean they are qualified to be one. Do your homework. If you want to show, GO to shows. Watch the trainers interact with their students, horses, others. Ask for references. Call and verify them. Ask them for their certification.

Here’s a dirty little secret. ANYONE can call themselves a trainer in the United States. (Please don’t run out and declare yourself a trainer.) Not all trainers, even the big celebrity trainers, are certified. Why? I don’t know. Pride? Concern they won’t be ranked as a “MASTER” trainer?  Concern that they may learn something new? Frankly, I wish more trainers would step up and get certified,  if not to improve their skills then to weed out the trainers who shouldn’t be doing this in the first place.

PLACES TO START YOUR SEARCH FOR A CERTIFIED, QUALIFIED INSTRUCTOR:

• CERTIFIED HORSEMANSHIP ASSOCIATION
• AMERICAN RIDING INSTRUCTORS ASSOCIATION

NOTE: I’m not a horse trainer. I’m not certified by either of these associations. I do know people who are accredited by these organizations and would gladly put my horse or myself in training with them.

Did I mention that I ride horses? Well, at one time I was riding up to four horses per day. I’d work them in arenas and on trail to decompress.  However, about 13 months ago, I took a nasty fall.  Because I’m built like a Weeble (bottom heavy) I found my bottom!  I was also wearing my Troxel helmet. I can’t stress how important it is to wear a helmet regardless of how bombproof  you think your horse is.

I’d been thrown before, but this fall shook my confidence.  After 6 weeks of physical therapy, the bruise, which extended from my hip to mid thigh, and wrapped from my navel to my spine, faded; but the stinging remained.  I took a break. Too long of a break.

I spoke with my pals who ride: Christy, Julie, Emily, Courtney, Liz. They all encouraged me. Julie offered excellent advice: Find a horse you trust and take it slowly.

Even before the fall, I had some issues mounting. I’d been taken off with before ,and I think that’s stuck. Think about it. You’re in this vulnerable position, hovering in mid-air about to make contact with the back of a living, breathing creature with its own instinctive mind that outweighs you a few times over .  Right after you mount it takes a second or two to “find your seat”, that sweet spot where riders feel secure and balanced.

I enlisted Sizzle. Sizzle is a firey 14.2 h Morgan horse who just celebrated his 28th birthday in March.  Don’t let his age fool you; he’s still got game and wants me to tell you that OLD GUYS RULE!!!!

I knew I wanted to comeback in an arena, the most controlled situation in my opinion. It seemed that every date we set for a comeback was thwarted by rain.  For those of you unfamiliar, riding arenas are usually sealed to protect the footing. You have to let them dry out before riding in them or you mess up the footing, and good footing is mission critical! 

Well, two weekends ago Sizzle and I announced our comeback!  I tacked him up using my friend’s dressage saddle and bridle. It was nice to use an appropriately-sized saddle. Sizzle can be a handful at the mounting block as the excitement of carrying a rider and the promise of showing off becomes a reality, but that day he stood patiently. I was hopping on and off the mounting block to get the most comfortable position. When I’d done that, I stood on the top step and started feeling a little woozy. I was about to put myself in that vulnerable position. Sizzle stood.  I took a deep breath and swung my leg over Sizzle’s back. 

We walked around the arena for 15 minutes. Sizzle had much more confidence in my abilities than I had.  He jigged a few steps and even shied at a sound from the neighbor’s yard  toward the end of my ride.  TWERP!  The next weekend, he was also patient and well-mannered.

Was it worth it? You bet!

Will I ride again? Yes! 

Did Sizzle get a pound of carrots for his efforts? YES! 

I’m grateful that our animals are patient, wonderful and forgiving teachers!

Bottomline… wear a helmet:  every ride every time.  I’m glad I had my helmet on when I took a tumble in April 2009!

CHA on HELMET FIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJW8ZjJ8Hkg

Get a Troxel helmet with free shipping (Order by 3.31.10):  Visit http://tinyurl.com/yh8nzxx or call 800-225-8827

Dressage pro Heather Blitz has launched a campaign among dressage riders to don a helmet when they ride.

My friend, Julie Goodnight, let me know today about a special offer by her sponsor, Troxel, making it a little easier to buy a helmet to ride in.  Troxel is offering FREE Shipping on helmets through March 31, 2010 at http://tinyurl.com/yh8nzxx or 800-225-8827.

Troxel offers riding helmets in Western and English styles in pricepoints for virtually every budget.   If you need a helmet,  click the link and place your order.  It’s important, folks.   If you’re riding wear a helmet: every ride, every time.  Child or adult!

Sources: 

http://tinyurl.com/yh8nzxx  (Troxel offer)

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=15942

http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2010/03/049.shtml