Wearing helmets when vaulting?

Question

OK, I need my curiosity satisfied. Google didn't help me out, so here I am at YA...

This question is for people who do vaulting or who have worked with vaulting trainers.

Are helmets generally worn when doing vaulting work, or are they considered unsafe? What is the general practice among people who do this? And if it is a common practice to go bareheaded, what is the reasoning behind that practice?

Answer 1

I am going to start out by saying I am barely familiar with vaulting, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

First a helmet could not possibly be considered UNSAFE as opposed to not wearing a helmet. If you fall off a horse, you are much safer with a helmet on regardless of what you are doing. When you hit the ground, its not going to matter if you are vaulting, trail riding, or just riding in the round pen.

My guess is that it is a common practice to go bareheaded in vaulting simply for the sake of appearances.

I know a woman who fell off a horse jumping, and now she is a big time advocate of helmets. She wasn't wearing a helmet and now she has lots of memory problems. You only have one brain so you should protect it!

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 2

I don't know verry much about valting but yes I would say that its a good idea, you never know whats going to happen

Answer 3

That is an interesting website you found.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but mine is that you should wear a helmet when vaulting.  Maybe there have been freak accidents where the helmet gets stuck or something.  But, what if the horse spooked, stumbled, or misbehaved?  I would certainly want to be wearing a helmet, wouldn't you?

I did a little bit of vaulting when I was a kid at summer camp, and I never thought twice about not wearing a helmet.   However, I've never done it seriously and therefore can't give you that perspective.

Answer 4

Although I have never been a vaulter myself, I used to live in California, near South San Jose- and the city is close to the town of Saratoga, which is the home of Garrod Farms Estate, Stables, and Vineyards. That facility in turn is home to the Mt. Eden Vaulting Club, which is nationally known and famous, and has sent competitors to international venues around the world. They have been to the WEG a couple times, and I have met their coach, who is a renowned horsewoman and an international vaulting champion in her own right. Because I worked briefly for some people who stabled their horses at Garrod's, I often had the chance to watch the vaulting teams practice- and NOT ONE OF THESE GIRLS EVER wore a helmet- in fact, they were prohibited from doing so. Vaulters practice on an area that has ( or at least this one did) about a foot or more of soft bedding, underfoot. In the case of this team,their practice area was covered with Fibar, and they kept it watered during the dry season to keep the dust down. The horses which were used in vaulting were always on a longe line, and as such, were under careful control. The horses wore a vaulting surcingle, and a bridle with side reins on it, as well as a thick, Western style saddle pad. The vaulters themselves did their practicing in leotards and soft shoes, similar in design to ballet shoes or slippers. During the entire time I worked there, I only saw one vaulter get hurt-and even then, her injury was just a slight sprained ankle caused by her landing the wrong way during one of her dismounts. After a night's rest with some Advil and an Ace bandage to support the ankle, she was back at it the next afternoon like nothing had happened.

Vaulting has been described as gymnastics on horseback, which indeed it is. Gymnasts DO NOT wear helmets when they practice, or when they compete, and the same thing applies to this sport, especially on the international level. In addition, it's quite common for vaulters to perform in leotards and wear ballet shoes- that's expected of them in competition, so it makes sense for them to do it in practice as well. Helmets are not used, at least not by most of the vaulters I have ever seen. A helmet is bulky, and they can slip, which poses far more of a safety hazard than being without one would. In order to do gymnastics safely, one needs to be able to see what one is doing- and a slipped helmet, or one that is dangling, will get in the way and can block an athlete's vision. Speeds in vaulting are generally quite low, because the horse is on the longe line all the time, and must maintain a consistent gait and rhythm, or the riders will not be able complete their moves and will lose points. Most rides on the advanced level are choreographed and done to music, so that makes an even rhythm and movement even more important. This, taken with the slow speeds, makes serious head injuries an unlikely possibility- and EVERY vaulter is taught to do emergency dismounts and how to get out of danger BEFORE he or she is allowed to do advanced level work.

Should vaulters wear helmets? I am not sure. There are arguments on both sides. In general, I think the current practices are good ones, because I actually have seen them in practice. Really serious injuries are rare in this sport, from what this club's coach told me. When they do happen, they are much more likely to be something like a broken leg or ankle, than they are to be a head injury. I only saw one person get hurt, so perhaps she may be right.

This is just my experience with this sport.

Answer 5

I don't vault, and never have, but I have seen a big vaulting display - and no, none of them were wearing any protective clothing.

I have no idea of the reasoning... looks? Pure darn craziness?!  It's not something I fancy doing at the best of times, and I certainly won't be letting my pony mad, gymnastics mad step-daughter have a go if they routinely don't protect themselves.

Answer 6

I have never been involved in vaulting, but I can say that there is no way wearing a helmet wouldn't be safe.... doesn't make much sense. I think they do wear helmets to practice for obvious safety reasons, but for shows of course they cannot because it wouldn't 'look' good.

I saw a little girl vaulting at a rodeo i went to who if course, wasn't wearing a helmet. She fell off and slipped under the horses back legs and he stepped on her head, immediately killing her. I wish vaulters wore helmets all the time....it would save a lot of lives and a lot of people from injury. every equestrian should wear a helmet.

EDIT: 1024 I agree with you.... It doesn't matter what kind of surface they are riding on, the real danger is the HORSE. A fall from a few feet up is not likely to cause much damage, but a hoof to the head is.

ha! a thumbs down huh? Since when are people wrong for stating there opinion?

Answer 7

i would say so for you can be safe

Answer 8

I don't vault myself, but I'm pretty sure that during the training sessions, they all use helmets. They probably just don't wear helmets for the same reasons that the bullriders don't wear helmets while theyre on a steer - it looks better.

Plus, I think that the beginners wear helmets when theyre learning how to vault.

They also sell vaulting helmets at my local tack store, so I'd assume that that means vaulters wear them?