Reasons You Need a New Riding Hat

Staying safe when riding and handling horses and ponies encompasses many different considerations, but arguably the most important is the requirement to wear a so called ‘hard hat’ at all times.

So when the Clarkson family, recipients of The Equine Bursary for 2016, went along to Houghton Equestrian at Heddon-on-the-Wall in Northumberland to be fitted with new Champion Ventair helmets, it was an ideal opportunity to learn more about how to ensure your new riding hat not only fits, but looks great and feels comfortable too.

The enthusiastic and expert staff at Houghton Equestrian have a large and airy space dedicated to riding hats and before beginning to fit the new hats, Catherine Willoughby explained that they always start by establishing what the riders do with their horses and at what levels, which helps to decide on which hats would be the right choice.

Georgina Clarkson is the first family member to be fitted and Hayley Cook starts by asking her to put her hair where and how it would normally be when she’s riding, before measuring in centimeters around the widest part of her head and brow which she explains; “just gives us a guide as to which size to try first.”

With the 59cm Ventair helmet in place, Catherine comments; “We put it on front to back and this is feeling pretty snug; we’re almost looking for a feeling of suction in the hat. We check it’s sitting nicely down on the brow, see how much grip it has on the head and that it covers the back of the head.”

Then it’s onto how tight the chin strap should be and checking that it looks snug enough, before she asks Georgina about pressure around her temples or the back of her head. The final step is ask another member of staff for a second opinion – looking again for that suction. Finally, Georgina is advised that the padding in the hat will release a little as it settles down, at which time she will be able to adjust the straps to ensure the fit remains just as comfortable.
Catherine confirms; “The Champion Ventair is a helmet that complies with all current standards and as it doesn’t have a peak it is good for cross country.”
Asked about how often riders should be thinking of changing their riding hats, Catherine explains; “When a hat is on the rider’s head, we’re looking for eyebrow movement without the hat moving. For any rider, there’s nothing worse than having to keep pushing your hat up again and again! If you have a prominent brow, the padding in your riding hat is going to ‘give’ more quickly -  Champion recommends every 3-5 years (depending on usage )and ALWAYS after a fall in which the head may have suffered an impact. If you ride regularly, the padding will slowly compress but it can be quite difficult for us if a customer has had a hat for a long time and it has been sliding around on their head, as they say a new, correctly fitting hat is too tight!

“It’s more obvious that you need to replace your hat if you fall off and crack the outer shell, but even if you can’t see any damage, the air bubbles in the protective foam inside the shell will have compressed and the protection it offers will be reduced. Even dropping it onto concrete can reduce the protection!”

Next it’s onto Jack Clarkson, who much to everyone’s amusement, is also asked: “is this how you normally wear your hair?” before his head is measured at nearly 60 centimetres.
Trying on a smaller 59 centimetre helmet demonstrates clearly what the difference is when the fit is not correct.
A different 59cm Champion hat with a peak is also too small as it sits too high on Jack’s head.

Hayley then re-measures Jack as 60 centimetres but says; “We can sometimes get a slightly different measurement by different staff and one reason for that is when people have a wider forehead or a head that isn’t round, then exactly where we put the tape can suggest a slightly different size.”

Barbie Clarkson is the final family member to be fitted and with her hair tied in a  neat pony tail as is usual for riding, Rebecca Storey measures her head as between 57 and 58 centimetres. With the 57 centimetre feeling too tight however, Barbie tries the 58 centimetre and says: “This feels fine; like it’s got a good contact all the way round my head. It feels really nice and light and it’s also a very nice looking hat and I’m looking forward to wearing it.

Whilst Hayley explains that Champion hats benefit from ‘squidgy’ padding in the front of the hat to maximise comfort and Georgina comments; “It’s definitely more comfortable than my previous cross country hat”, Barbie is trying a 59 centimetre peaked hat, which although just one size bigger, drops down over her eyes! It moves on her head, there is room for two fingers at the back of the head and just a light push sees it down and resting on her ears. It clearly doesn’t fit correctly.

Hayley also reveals that family members commonly have similarly shaped heads and that it’s not uncommon to find that children have had their riding hats for quite some time – and they can become uncomfortable and move due to a lack of grip from the compressed foam lining.

Catherine adds; “Sometimes we’re asked to fit a hat to people who are on a budget, but we can’t always oblige if the hats don’t fit. We’ve all only got one head so there’s no sense in taking a ‘shortcut’ with your riding hat.”

There's more about Rider Safety in the May 2016 issue of Equine. Subscribe securely online at www.theequinestore.co.uk and save over 30% with an annual (11 issue) subscription costing just £20.00.