CONSIDERATIONS

A REVIEW ON THE USE OF SAFETY EQUIPMENT.
Yes, here it is again.  About once a year, someone who teaches or trains or is 'seeable'  gets hurt and the subject of why, or why-not, were they using safety equipment comes up.
As a Teacher I have always recommended being as SAFE as possible when working with a Horse.  As a Trainer I have been very careful to adhere to my own recommendations about safety.  Handling horses daily in repeated routines brings with it a certain:  non-awareness.
We. if Professionals, must always be aware of our teaching-by-observation situation.  It is wise to create rules and habits which reflect what we teach!
Currently,  there are some stories of certain Teachers/Trainers who have put aside the professional suggestions of many other Pros about using safety gear...helmets, vests, boots, etc.
So, I want to state some 'rules' I have developed over my years of equine related work, hope you don't get too bored!
Primary Point:  safety IS an issue in our chosen field. 
Horses don't think like Humans which means they don't respond like Humans.  They also are mostly unaware of how 'fragile' WE, as Humans, are. 
We can project an idea into the future and realize that the situation MAY become more dangerous FOR OUR HORSE unless we take action to change directions...horses change direction when they become aware of THEIR OWN possible danger...rarely, if ever, acting because of OUR possible danger. 
Think about that.
They know the responsibility of caring for themselves; we should know that same responsiblity of caring, not only for their safety but, for ourselves too!
If a person must wear a helmet, or vest, or boots, to show in a particular event, why NOT get used to working in that helmet, vest, boots?  Will the gear always make one safe? No, of course not! Will it ever?  Possibly...so:  why not use it?
Does using the equipment mean that a person can take ridiculous risks?  Well, they can court risk if they choose to, but the gear is like the Horse:  it guarantees nothing in the way of safety!
I have seen many accidents where a helmet, worn properly, did NOT protect the Human wearing it; maybe in one or two cases the helmet even made the accident worse.  However, there have been some situations where the helmet DID protect the person and without it...that person would have been more hurt than they were.
Think about that.
There are LAWS for performance of certain actions, so we must, in some circumstances, obey the LAW and perform in certain ways.  Without these LAWS we may choose to perform other actions.
So, as usual, if there is no over-all RULE to wear protective gear, one must CHOOSE what action to follow. 
If there is a RULE about the use of equipment, one MUST comply or suffer the consequences of dis-obediance.
So, if protective gear is REQUIRED why not be practiced in the wearing of it?
Working in our field has some required involvment in not performing casually.  Doesn't it?
I have seen that being aware and 'staying in the moment' assist Horse and Human is avoiding injuries. 
The person who is riding along on a very well trained Horse while chatting with a friend can, without awareness of the instant, have the Horse slide, slowly, casually, down a short step of no more than ten inches, lose footing and, without malice, lie down their 1100 pounds onto the leg, hip and ribcage of the non-dismounting rider.  The Horse  then gets right up onto its feet and stands still, unhurt...while the Rider realizes that s/he has a broken leg, hip and lower ribcage!
No protective gear would have prevented that accident but awareness by the Human  might have done so.
MAIN CONCLUSION:  Stay alert and aware and be as safe as possible!   P.H.F.