There are a lot of excuses for not wearing a helmet when you ride. But there is no good reason. The quietest, most well trained horse can cause injury if it is startled or hurt. Ask anyone who has accidentally ridden over a nest of ground wasps, or were riding calmly along when a car backfired. A helmet won't make you invincible, but it will help protect the one part of your body almost impossible to fix -- your brain. Please don't use these excuses and do use an ASTM approved riding helmet every time you ride.

Read More About Riding Safety:

• Care for a Horse Riding Helmet
• How to Choose a Horse Riding Helmet
• Staying Safe Around Horses - Safety Working With Horses
• Horse Safety Quiz - Take the Horse Safety Quiz

Imagine how excited I was to come home from riding last weekend to find my husband at work cleaning my saddle pads! I handed him the hair and dust coated saddle pad I had just used and he went right to work. The pad came beautifully clean. Even my white dressage pad, which I usually replace each summer because it becomes too stained for show ring use came out almost like new.

In the past, I've crammed pads, sheets and coolers in the washing machine. Even with a large capacity washer, it's a tight fit and the items don't seem to come completely clean. Horse gear isn't usually welcome at laundromats, and if you've ever done a load of dark wash after you've laundered your white horse's gear, you'll know why. The hair tends to cling to the inside of the washer and get deposited on the next load. Large rugs are impossible to wash in a home machine. So instead of struggling with washing machines and driers, choose a nice sunny day and try this way of cleaning your saddle pads, blankets and turn-out rugs.

More About Blankets and Pads

• How To Fold a Western Saddle Blanket
• Horse Blanketing Tips and Tricks - Blanketing Your Horse
• How to Fold a Horse Blanket, Cooler, Rug, or Sheet

How horse crazy are you? Are you just a little bit horse crazy? Or are you 100% horse crazy? Here's a quiz that rates your level of horse craziness. Along with your score, you'll find useful links and learn how to get support for your horse craziness. Take the How Horse Crazy Are You Quiz .

More Horse Quizzes

• Horse Quiz - What Comes Next Horse Quiz
• Curb or Snaffle Bit Horse Quiz

Do your rail fences look like they've got fancy scalloped edges? Are the trees in your pasture slowly dying because the bark has been stripped off? Or, do you come out to find wood chips along the edges of your horse's stall? Could you have a bad case of four-legged termites? Actually, you've got a horse that has developed the habit of wood chewing. Horses chew would for a number of different reasons, and they're a bit different from the habit of cribbing. Learn about the different causes of wood chewing, how it can affect your horse and what you can do about it. Read Learn Why Horses Chew Wood and How to Solve The Problem to help solve your ' four-legged termite' problems.

More About Vices:

• Weaving FAQ
• Stall Walking and How to Cope With It
• My Horse Doesn't Like Being Groomed