Actually, some of the cowboy hats you see riders wearing are helmets - they are just in disguise 
Courtney King-Dye’s story is a perfect example why wearing a helmet is not a stupid thing to do. In short, she was an Olympic caliber rider who’s horse tripped and fell. They were riding in a flat sandy ring, and not doing anything wild or crazy. She suffered a serious TBI and now, after 6 years, is living her life but she will never be the same rider or person that she was before the accident. A split second decision on her part changed everything.
Her home page: ckddressage.com - ckddressage Resources and Information.
Her in 2008, riding in the Olympic Trials: MYTHILUS & COURTNEY KING, GP, U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS 2008 - YouTube
Three years after her accident: Riders4Helmets Courtney King-Dye Three Years On - YouTube
In order to ride a horse, you should be smarter than the horse. If that’s not a legal requirement, maybe it should be.
Now that I’m thinking about this, I’ve never seen a motorcycle turn it’s head and bite the unsuspecting horse rider next to it. Biting a human was a mistake. The horse was trying to bite another horse. A friend of mine received a huge bite on her thigh because “Sweetie” doesn’t tolerate other horses passing on her right side. (Something we needed to know BEFORE we went riding.) :rolleyes:
Again - you know those velvet-covered hats you see people wearing in equestrian events (like the Olympics) or fox hunting or dressage? THOSE ARE HELMETS. They’re velvet-covered helmets, but they’re still helmets. So you’ve actually seen helmets on horse-riders all your life, you just didn’t realize that’s what they were.
Yeah, I’m aware of things like dressage. My equestrian experience is in trailriding through the woods. Indeed, the GIS I did was for “horseback + trail + ride”. And I’ve never seen any trail riders wear helmets unless they were on rent-a-horses.
I grew up on horseback, and after a long absence I’m back. I started riding lessons again in January and my first purchase was a helmet. First of all I’m not 16 and invulnerable anymore and secondly I’m smarter than a 16yr old and realize no one is invulnerable.
Good horses, hell even great horses have bad days. If you happen to get a moment of inattention by the rider and a spooky horse jumping the wrong direction you are falling off. 9 times out of 10 you’ll get a bruise and feel foolish but $50 for a helmet for that 10th time is totally worth it.
Helmets are designed for riding - you can find them for any situation. Mine is ventilated for riding during the hot summer and has a cover I can add for warmth during the winter.
The lady who runs the stables I ride at requires all her clients to wear helmets any time they’re on horseback anywhere on the property and she strongly advises that they’re worn off the property. Her husband died in a bad fall when his helmet, which he had on but not done up, fell off before his head hit the ground.
So yea, don’t just put it on your head, do up the damn strap.
Legal requirements for riding a horse??? Don’t make me laugh. There are NONE. There aren’t any requirements for owning a horse either. Or running a stable or boarding barn.
I have 2 helmets. One ventilated for summer riding, the other for weather that isn’t summer. I would nevereverever get on a horse without a helmet. Every time, every ride. Just ask Courtney Dye King who suffered a TBI from trotting a horse. Horse stumbled, she fell off and cracked her head. No helmet of course. Fractured her skull, spent 4 weeks in a coma, 3 months in PT and still has coordination probelms with her speech and walk. She’s an Olympic rider and felt she didn’t need to wear a helmet because heck, she was just schooling a horse on the flat.
Rant over. I really don’t care if other people wear helmets. Non-helmet wearers get no sympathy from me.
Kayaker if you’re worried about image, I believe you can get helmets that look like cowboy hats. Think of it this way: it’s like a motorcycle helmet or a bike helmet. Most people would not ride without one in those sports.
The one serious fall I had in 30+ years of riding another horse startled, rammed into mine, she hopped sideways, knocking me off center, then she bolted. I came off. My siide hit first, but my head definitely bounced.
We like have you around. Please consider it. 
By and large, horseback riding is going to take place on rougher terrain than motorcycle riding.
Depending on the state, there are requirements for providing care for a horse. Horses can be seized from the owners for criminal neglect and poor treatment. The only requirements that might get you in trouble with the law as far as riding would probably be where you ride (some roads, trails, and highways will specify which types of traffic may pass) and how you are treating the animals. Animal cruelty laws will come into effect in some circumstances.
Animal cruelty laws/providing care laws, yes. But any fool can buy a horse and keep it. It’s not like there is a legal background check. Laws are pretty open to interpretation by local authorities, too.
Not sure what the exact percentage is, but there are still lots of people who’d rather die than wear a motorcycle helmet. Some of them do die. On the upside, many of them also become organ donors. On the downside… many of them don’t die after a horrific accident and instead live a long time with the consequences.
Ditto for bicycles.
I’d have personally said that riding a motorbike was more dangerous, certainly in the UK anyway. That said, I haven’t seen many people riding horses anyway.
How do they compare to motorcycle helmets?
In what way?
There are differences between the two activities. For one thing, horses just don’t go as fast as motorcycles can. With motorcycles you have a significant hazard of crashes with other vehicles, most of them larger and heavier than your vehicles. With horses it’s less a problem with crashes and more a problem with falling from a height or crashing into a tree branch.
Try riding a horse in a show without a helmet and see how far you get. When my daughter went on trail rides with her barn - on her horse - she and everyone else damn well wore their helmets. But that involved professional trainers who knew what the hell they were doing.
I hope you’d wear a helmet if you were doing hunter-jumper.
I hope your horse never spooks. And I hope you’ve got an up to date organ donor card also.
If you are involved in jumping the biggest risk is the horse refusing, which can pitch one right over the fence if you’re not prepared.
OTOH, in California motorcycles are allowed to lane-split, and the radio reports several motorcycle crashes a week just during my commute. Cars are often to blame, but that doesn’t help the biker. Still, I can buy that riding is more dangerous per hour, though I think motorcycle riders put in a lot more hours.
I like to keep a fence between myself and large animals…unless they roasting on a spit.
I was casual friends with Christopher Reeve, as we both flew sailplanes. He was pressured to give up this sport due to its danger (a valid concern). He did, deciding to get more serious about equestrian competition instead.
A couple of years later he suffered a serious injury when thrown from a horse. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Seriously? None? They have some lovely helmets these days, extremely light weight, vented, often in fun colors. We never went out on trail without helmets. If we were planning to go fast and/or jump, we wore crash vests. Anyone who gets on a horse, bike, or motorcycle without a helmet is crazy.