I sometimes ride a bike in our neighborhood. Almost never see a car. I’m not going fast. I don’t wear a helmet.
Riding horses? Depends. Helmets are hot and sweat in the eyes doesn’t help. My horse isn’t too spooky. But if I want the option to canter down a desert wash...a helmet is a very good idea. The desert has a lot of rocks and if a horse doing 25 mph stumbles and goes down - well, it will hurt regardless. But I’ll have some chance of living with a helmet.
But when it is hot and I struggle to keep sweat out of my eyes, then a cowboy hat works far better. Not being able to see around me has safety impacts too.
I HAVE RIDDEN A LOT OF MILES ON HORSEBACK
I tried a helmet, but I wear bi-focals & the strap jostled my glasses to the point that I had massive headache in less than a minute. My brain could not track the movements correctly. Quit trying.
AS for “CANTERING IN THE DESERT AT 25 MPH”-—I would like more details. A CANTER is NOT A FULL OUT GALLOP.
I competed in LONG DISTANCE EVENTS ON HORSEBACK for over 30 years-—1985 to 2005.
I NEVER saw any rider who had a horse that “CANTERED” at 25 MPH. Kentucky Derby horses can go into low 30 MPH-—but they are running less than 2 miles on a WELL GROOMED SURFACE.
I rode on almost everything & rocks were common-—ESPECIALLY in the desert.
I rode 17 different horses & completed over 5,000 miles of events with a 93 % COMPLETION RATE. 50 miles — 100 miles — 5 day 250 miles. GREAT SPORT-—VERY ADDICTIVE-—and YOU MUST “KNOW YOUR HORSE & RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE”.