I must confess I never wore a helmet when riding...

I once rode bareback, barefoot, and bareheaded over 2 miles along a paved road to the store...to buy candy. I was 11, and I never once thought about what might happen if I fell off my horse and hit my head.

Knocked unconscious, I could have laid in the road where a car could hit me. Out in the boonies, there was no one to help me and this was before cell phones.

I didn't think I needed any protection, I was young and carefree, and I trusted my horse a lot. When a log truck flew by next to me....I thought it was so cool that my horse never once bolted.

But, other factors can conspire to surprise you. So, I'm here today, many years later, trying to convince you that it's important to wear a safety helmet when you ride. There's this thing called probability. Your chance of being in a serious accident. It's about 25% on a horse. It's one of the highest probabilities of all sports!

It all depends on you to look at your sport differently. Have fun but stay out of the hospital. A life altering brain injury is something you don't need to experience. Take it from me...

I now spend a lot of time promoting the use of safety helmets through The Leeward Pilot Club of Hawaii's project "Save your brain...ride with a helmet"