ATV Florida Forum

Ran across this and started wondering how anyone could put a child on an unpredictable animal without protective gear in the first place..? Seems to me just the fall from that height would be far more dangerous than from an ATV. Why are our children required to wear a helmet while equestrians get a free pass? What about a mandatory horse safety course for children under 18...



Wearing helmet while riding horses a no-brainer, with or without a law
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
June 13, 2008
Grieving dad continues to push for horse-riding helmet law.

Gary Hornstein understands the motivating power of tragedy.

That's why he refuses to give up his tireless fight for a law that shouldn't need fighting for: requiring kids under 16 to wear a helmet when riding a horse on public land.

Hornstein, of Loxahatchee, knows well what can happen to young riders who don't wear head protection. His 12-year-old daughter, Nicole, died in June 2006 after 20 days in a coma, succumbing to head wounds sustained when a speeding car spooked her horse and she was thrown to the pavement.

Speaking from the pain of experience, Hornstein calls helmets for young riders a "no-brainer." And yet, in the Florida Legislature, the proposed Nicole Hornstein Act has inexplicably failed — twice.

Never mind that head injuries are the leading cause of death for people riding horses, or that kids are even required to wear helmets when riding their bicycles, which are far more predictable and much closer to the ground.

Unwilling to wait another year for a resistant Legislature to do the right thing, Hornstein has now turned his attention closer to home, trying to get local cities and counties to do what Plantation, Parkland and Davie have already done: put horse-riding helmet ordinances for youngsters on their books. Wellington, for one, has given an initial nod to the idea. Others, like the Indian Trail Improvement District, have passed resolutions supporting statewide legislation.

It's a smart and tenacious tactic, and the helmet law, whatever its venue, is a must wherever horses are ridden.

But parents who care about the safety of their children, and adults who care about the example they lead, shouldn't wait for a law, ordinance or resolution.

Learn from the Hornsteins' tragedy. When you're sitting eight feet up on a powerful animal, no matter how tame or trained, anything can happen, and simple head protection can make a world of difference between a scare and heartbreak.

So parents, make your kids wear a helmet. And adult riders, put your headgear on, too. This is one area where being hard-headed can prove fatal.

Don't get me started on horses.  Ever drive through Ocala and see the 100's of thousands of acres that were stripped so horses can have their pasture.  Where are the enviro wackos on this one.  They talk about atv's destroying the enviroment, but every horse farm I see has stripped the land.

That is another issue I completely agree with. I often wonder what all the horse poop my neighbor throws in the drainage ditch behind his house is doing for the environment....and mine. I am just glad my waterwell is 130ft deep!


Sure would be nice if we could all share the trails....

i recently read that the biggest contributor to green house gases is cow farts, i imagine horses aren't far behind.

That's funny right there!!!

although it is funny, it wasn't meant to be, I'm serious
http://talk.livedaily.com/showthread.php?t=558643
"Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together."

I've read this elsewhere as well.  It's called overpopulation and the need to feed the world

i might be contributing to the fart problem also. :o