Helmet questions??????

get a sportage extra small/petit i hav had mine forever and its still in good condition and to make it funner get a cheap but cute little helmet cover

Hi, a riding helmet will make the difference between your daughter being properly protected or not so your really should try and travel to a retailer that is preferably BETA trained. It should comply with the current British standard (assuming you are in the UK) and bears the kite mark icon.

As a guide on fitting: the circumference of your daughter's head should be measured just above her ears, and this wil correspond with a hat size be it a riding hat or skull cap. Take into account he shape of her head, it is round or oval?

People with round heads are better suited to helmets, people with oval shaped heads are better suited to riding hats.

If you do get to a retailer, ask if you daughter can wear the headgear while you browse the shop for at least 20 minutes. That may appear to be comfy to begin with may start to feel a little tight and restricting putting pressure on the forehead and sides of the head which will result in headache and possible nausea.

When the headgear is on her head, before fastening, your daughter should tip her head so that the top of her head is parallel with the ground, the headgear should stay put, if slips off its too big.

She should also gently shake her head up and down, if it slips its too big.

When the helmet is fastened ensure it is not too tight or too slack. You should be able to gently bring the strap so that it will go no further than the tip of your daughter's chin. You should be able to comfortably get a finger between the strip and the chin.

I would like to add that there are very cheap helmets out there for very young children that are considered satisfactory by many as their child "will be on the lead rein walking around". But whether 3 years old or 13 years old with a little experience, lead rein or not, the pony will still be capable of spooking etc and a child with a cheaper helmet with lower protection can still fall the same as a child who is doing a little more work with the pony. Also anything can happen even just when around the pony, Always ensure your daughter wears a helmet if she is to be anywhere near a pony.

You should not consider buying a second hat helmet.

Only a horse person would refer to a child as a "coming 3 year old"!!

Measure your daughter's head around the widest part. All helmet manufacturers will have size charts to convert inches to helmet size.

My son's first helmet was a Troxel Spirit, size XS (which I bought at TSC). I think he was about 2.5 or 3 years old. Even though the Troxels are cheaper than other helmets doesn't mean they're crap. They have to pass the same certification testing as any other helmet. For a child, you might want to consider one with a dial-fit system (like the Spirit) so you can snug it up in the back for a perfect fit. They also come with foam shims that you can put inside the liner at key points like the sides of the head if the helmet fits in length, but is too wide.

You might also like a Troxel for yourself. I would recommend the Spirit over the Sport because the Sport is a bit clunky. I have a Tipperary Sportage for myself which I like. It's about $60.

Good thing about leading by example. Make sure your own helmet is not merely cosmetic. As you have probably already noticed, even the incredibly young can pick up on details of horsemanship, "Why does my helmet have the CERTIFIED label on it but yours doesn't?" (What are you going to say? "That's because your head is important and mine isn't." Can you get away with that?!?)

For yourself, any new ASTM/SEI certified helmet that you like will be better than what you now wear.

Because the child's head is a greater proportion of the body weight than an adult's head, the helmet may initially feel awkward to her. Persist, and do not let her devise strategies for not wearing it.

Now let's think about the problem of trying to get a really correct child's helmet from Tractor Supply, an organisation well known for having lots of neat things but often not exactly what you really want. I would recommend that you get your daughter whatever you can find now, even if the fit or appearance is inadequate. A subsequent trip elsewhere (to a REAL tack shop) to buy several essentials for the pony and its rider (including a CORRECTLY FITTED helmet) seems in order.

Stuff I get from TS that's okay:

- Manure buckets. I cut off the polypropylene rope handles and splice together full loops of 1/2-inch laid nylon rope so the handles won't suddenly come apart after a year's use. Most people don't know how to splice rope. My sailor father taught me, half a century ago.

- Manure scoops. These are strangely called "transfer scoops" or something and at TS are not with the horse equipment, but instead with garden supplies. The aluminium ones with wooden handles are okay.

- Water buckets (rubber and plastic) and rubber feed bowls.

- Feed. They often have appropriate feed. They have trouble getting in some particular kinds, though.

- Fence panels. Not top quality, but usually good enough for solving an immediate problem.

Stuff where TS loses:

- Western shirts. Their own "Bit & Bridle" brand is of poor quality. They carry a limited selection of Wrangler shirts in odd styles that I do not like.

- Halters. The brands they carry do not meet my expectations as well as the Hamilton brand that I buy elsewhere.

- Lead ropes and pony tie-out ropes. We often make our own using parts from Weaver that we order specially from a local (real) tack shop.

- Helmets. Insufficient selection, as you have noticed.

I think that TS works on the idea that each time you go there should be a "new experience" so that you'll buy something. That policy is counter-productive when you are looking for a specific item or style that they "no longer carry."

If I were you, I would look in several of the on-line catalogues for tack suppliers, and find one that recommends how to fit helmets for small children. You'll need to take a measurement of the circumference of your daughter's skull. Below I've put a pointer to Dover, but they're just one of many. Expect to pay between $50 and $90 for a certified helmet.

Your daughter will learn the economics of horsemanship at an early age. This is not a bad thing.

That helmet NEEDS to fit correctly, and that means you need to go out with your daughter and get one fitted correctly to her head.

No something isn't better than nothing, if that hat doesn't fit it's going to do more harm than good. It'll either be too tight and give her headache, or too loose and you'll risk it falling off or covering her eyes.

You can get some fairly cheap helmets that are still up to standard, and the main thing is that they fit correctly.