A new law has been introduced in Florida making the wearing of helmets compulsory for junior riders under the age of 16. The new law has also been named ‘Nicole’s law‘ after a 12 year old girl who was killed in a riding accident in 2006.

The last time I rode without a riding hat was in my teens, which was more than 25 years ago in the UK. I can’t remember what prompted me to go from riding with a hat most of the time to all of the time. I thought that the use of riding hats was compulsory in the UK but from some initial research on the internet, my current understanding is that it is compulsory for riders under 14 years of age on the road in the UK. I’ll investigate this further.

I don’t know the US federal or state laws regarding the wearing of a riding hat. If anyone knows more about this, I’d be very interested in this information.

Not only is the wearing of a hat important but the type of hat and its fitting is also important.  With safety levels and design improving all the time, I would recommend buying a design of the current highest standard and getting this properly fitted. The fitting should be checked on a regular basis as this will change with wear.

During work for the expansion of Panama Canal, a set of horse fossil teeth have been found and estimated from approx 18 million years ago. The teeth confirm that 15 to 18 million years ago, horses were forest-dwelling browsers. During this early stage of their development horses were also three toed. Geologists hope to unearth more important finds as the expansion work continues.

I had hoped that Mine That Bird would run another great race and win the Belmont Stakes. I had checked his pedigree before the race and his sire Birdstone had won the race so I thought he should have sufficient stamina.

When I saw the pace slow in the second half of the  race and Mine That Bird move through the field before the turn, I had mixed feelings - he would either win by a long way or slow when he hit the front earlier than usual and be beaten. The latter proved to be the case.

I had seen the winning horse Summer Bird in the parade and it caught my eye as chestnut horses often do. When the commentator said its sire was Birdstone also, I thought it may have a good chance, but the commentator also mentioned its previous form which did not sound so positive.

The result was a good story on two fronts - a horse by Birdstone did win the race but not the expected one, and the winning jockey had not won the Belmont Stakes before and was very disappointed last year when his horse, the favourite for the race, Big Brown pulled up.

There was another ‘bird’ sport story at the weekend when Jonathan Byrd took the lead in the latter stages of the Memorial Golf event, only to be beaten by Tiger Woods with birdies on the last two holes!