I’ve spent the last year writing about kids, horses, and safety on this blog. I’ve learned from my friend Casey Branquinho all sorts of parenting pitfalls and challenges when it comes to balancing brave kids and riding safety, and we’ve given our readers free Resistol RideSafes each month as a part of this program. 

It’s been a blast, and I’ve learned a lot. But, I’ve got to tell you—my kid was in a RideSafe long before this endeavor. 

We’re a family who values the cowboy traditions—”We Live It Every Day”—as the folks at Resistol say. But as my pregnancy progressed back in 2016, I started to worry about all the cowboy activities that could put my baby at risk someday, and that new-mom anxiety kicked in.

I’m so grateful, then, that Mary Jane Carpenter, the director of marketing for Resistol, Charlie 1 Horse and Stetson, sent me a Resistol RideSafe for my daughter. When she first started riding at 2, she was in a Resistol RideSafe, and even my husband, who grew up ranching in the middle of Wyoming, agreed that she should wear it. 

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Reason 1: She feels like a cowgirl in her RideSafe, and we call it her cowboy hat. She loves that she looks like Mom and Dad, and she loves being a cowgirl. 

Reason 2: The thought of something preventable happening to my kid is impossible to bear, in a world when so much loss and sadness is all too common. I’ve written too many stories of parents saying goodbye to their children, lost to horrific accidents, to not do everything I can to keep my kid safe. That means keeping her on the old pony Tonto as long as I can, being a stickler for barn rules on clothes and tying and technology, and teaching her how to fall and fail in the saddle and in life. Thank you for all taking the Resistol RideSafe journey with us this year, and here’s to lifetime of safety in the saddle. 

Reason 3: She’s learning safety. She knows that hat keeps her safe, and that Mom and Dad value her safety. We’ve talked to friends who work in child development, and (to a degree) kids have a strong need to know that their caretakers value their health and safety and take steps to ensure it. Just like putting on her seat belt and making sure she brushes her teeth, asking her to wear her Resistol RideSafe is a way we show her we value her every day. 

Reason 4: Concussions are terrifying. Sure, they might seem common—but their effects can be long-lasting. My dad is a football coach, who too often has seen the ill-effects of concussions sideline careers and lives. Accidents aren’t always preventable, but I like our chances a lot better when my daughter is wearing her Resistol RideSafe. 

Reason 5: “We Live It Every Day” isn’t just a tagline for a brand. Resistol’s team gets it when it comes to the Western industry. They pump their money back into riding programs, youth, amateur, and professional events. And they spend their spare time in the saddle, at brandings and rides from Florida to Texas to California and everywhere in between. They’re the kind of people who believe in the Western way of life, and the Resistol RideSafe is their way of honoring the next generation of cowboys and cowgirls and leaving the West a little better than they found it. H&R