Repost from r/horses! Somebody DM’ed me and said I should share this with yall!

It’s baffling that in 2025, people still need to be told that helmets are a basic and necessary safety measure when riding horses—especially for children. I recently pointed out the importance of helmets in a discussion and was met with hostility, dismissiveness, and the classic “we’ve always done it this way” argument. That mindset doesn’t make horseback riding any less dangerous—it just means those people have been lucky so far.

Why Helmets Matter

Horses, no matter how calm or well-trained, are still animals. They can trip, spook, or react unexpectedly, and a fall from a horse—even at a walk—can cause life-altering head trauma. A child’s skull isn’t fully developed until their late teens, making them even more vulnerable to serious injury. A properly fitted riding helmet reduces the risk of traumatic brain injuries by over 70%.

I Know This Firsthand—Because I Didn’t Get a Second Chance

When I was 12 years old, I was thrown from a horse without a helmet. I suffered severe injuries that still impact my ability to live life to the fullest today. My skeletal damage is permanent. And worst of all, my head trauma was so severe that if I ever get another concussion, my skull will have to be drilled open to relieve the swelling. That’s the lifelong consequence of one bad fall.

People love to believe, “It won’t happen to me.” That’s exactly what I thought, too—until it did. And now, every ride is a risk I can’t take lightly. If I had been wearing a helmet, I might not be dealing with these limitations for the rest of my life.

Other Sports Require Helmets—Why Should Riding Be Any Different?

Helmets are mandatory in almost every high-risk sport: • Football • Hockey • Cycling • Skiing/snowboarding • Motorsports

Nobody questions the use of helmets in these activities because we know they save lives. So why is horseback riding, a sport involving a 1,000 lb animal with a mind of its own, treated differently? The excuse that “we’ve always done it this way” doesn’t hold up—people also used to ride in cars without seatbelts, and we saw how that turned out.

Neglecting Helmets is Child Endangerment

Let’s be clear: allowing children to ride without helmets is reckless. It is not just a parenting choice—it’s an active decision to ignore known risks that could permanently harm or kill a child. And when people call it out, they’re not being “nosy” or “soft.” They’re doing what any decent human being should: advocating for basic safety.

The person I originally confronted tried to justify their negligence by saying “Nobody around here wears helmets”—as if that somehow cancels out the risk. The argument that helmets are unnecessary because some people choose not to wear them is like saying seatbelts aren’t needed because some drivers don’t buckle up. Ignorance doesn’t negate danger; it just increases the odds of tragedy.

If you care about the safety of kids around horses, don’t brush off helmet use. Set a standard. If you’re against helmets, ask yourself—would you rather be “right,” or would you rather prevent a child from suffering a preventable brain injury? Because the ground doesn’t care how experienced you think you are.