Today, safety reigns supreme. Forty years ago, however, it took a backseat to fashion, and more importantly, tradition.
Obviously, I will never turn my nose up at doing the smart thing. Say no to drugs, don’t skip school, and always wear your helmet. Solid advice from anyone to anyone.
Back in my day—let’s say from the 1970s onward—only jockeys and event riders wore helmets. They were known then as ‘crash helmets’ or ‘skull caps.’ Not an overly appealing description, but suggestive that the manufacturers of protective headgear understood the assignment.
I spoke with a friend of mine the other day, Big Anne, as some of you may have heard me refer to her. She isn’t a large woman, but she’s taller than my friend Little Anne.
Anywho, Big Anne used to make silks, helmet covers, saddle cloths, and blankets at the racetrack and she reminded me of the Calientes-style helmets of old. These were a stylish, flattering brand of helmet that jockeys favored due to their being light and streamlined.
However, Big Anne said, despite the helmet’s good looks, they were shamefully flimsy, and you could fold them—if you’ll excuse the pun—like a taco.
Evidently, in the 90s, you could buy used Calientes on the newly invented eBay. This is shocking, given they were nothing more than fatigued fiberglass shells that were easily taco-fied with your bare hands. Today, if you take one tumble from your horse, it’s off to the tack store to buy a new head protector. (I’m not scoffing at this, I promise; better to be safe than sorry.)
When I was a kid, I wanted to gallop around wearing a Caliente with a shiny vinyl helmet cover with a pompom, just like the jockeys. Sadly, it was a dream never realized.
However—and this is the perfect segue—I did find myself with a black velvet hunt cap, the one with the ribbon on the back. I loved it so much, I don’t mind admitting I wore it around the house while doing kid things.

The interesting thing about these caps is that there was no harness. If protecting your head was something you were mildly concerned with, they came with a bikini-quality elastic strap that fit under your chin. You could snug it up by tying a knot in it and, mission accomplished, your head was now “safe.”
Even if you did secure that low-grade elastic string, though, the “cap” itself was no more protective than a cap you’d wear to shield your eyes from the summer sun. Hunt caps were nothing more than a thin piece of molded plastic shaped reasonably well to that of a human skull. These hats were pretty, but completely useless.
Eventually, it dawned on somebody that the elastic “safety” strap was a ridiculous notion, and so they created a harness. The first hunt cap harness I recall was a nylon number attached at various points around your hat. Interestingly, the creator felt a plastic cup for your chin to rest in would not only look stupid, but also cause untold amounts of acne. They were all the rage and we foolishly bought into it.
When the plastic cup thing fell out of favor, a sleek leather harness was introduced, which came in either black or brown, depending on your needs. (There was, curiously, a third option for clear plastic, perhaps so no one could see it. Unsure).
The other unique feature of these harnesses is that they were removable, so you could transition seamlessly from the dressage ring, where harnesses were a laughable offence, to the show jump ring, where harnesses were required.
I shake my head at the absurdity. Could the harness not seamlessly release itself from the helmet if you fell off at fence three?
In the 1970s, my mom often opted for the bowler hat; a nice felt number that did little more than sit on her head. My mom was all about fashion, and looking beautiful, and she knew exactly what flat classes called for a bowler. She owned several in various colors, with show coats to match.
There was an elastic on these, as well, but it was intended to be worn in the back, tucked under your hairnet (though I have no clue what you would do if you were a man). The point of this was to keep your hat on whilst showing off your hand gallop and had nothing to do with protection.
And last, but certainly not least, we had the ever-elegant top hat. I still have mine, in fact. I’m wearing it as I write this, but generally, it sits with my old hunt cap in pride of place on the mantel.
If you had the money to fork out for a proper top hat, then you were essentially riding around with a fur pelt on your head, though a fancier version than what Davy Crockett had going on. These suckers had to be tight if you wanted them to stay on, and if your forehead didn’t have a red crease across it when you finished, then you probably lost your hat during your extended trot across the diagonal.
Admittedly, there is a warning label on the inside of mine that reads, “This is an item of apparel only and is not in any way sold as protective headgear.” That seems fairly obvious upon first glance, but if you rode horses before safety was a thing, you may have needed that bit of information.
It’s true, the helmets of today are expensive, but you know what? They were expensive in the 1970s as well. It’s all relative. If we foolishly want to sit on a 1,000-lb.+ animal, the least we can do for ourselves is protect the old melon the best we can. And no price is too high for that.