I would like to share with you all how I arrived at the cost of the Western Helmet and some background on its creation. First off I should tell you I love art. My Daddy would draw little birds with me as a kid. I always drew pictures of horses in school (yes, instead of taking notes at times lol) and was one class short of an Art minor in College when I graduated. I even selected Artist as my title for this page. Art is part of who I am. I have an appreciation for balance and harmony - I really feel like that is the inspiration behind the Western Helmet. It is safety too, yes of course it is, Once my daughter was born I knew I wanted her in a helmet and knew I had to get in one first if I expected her to. ... but second to safety ... it was aesthetics - I was competing in a Western event in 2012 - the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover. I would be surrounded by a sea of Cowboy hats and our judges were from backgrounds of Reiners, Working Ranch, Cutting Horses and Working Cow Horse .... Now I know it was 100% ok to wear a helmet - but that Western image IS so much a part of the strong tradition that backs those disciplines and when you have judges from a strong Western background .. I think that profile can - and does - make a difference .. even a subconscious one. Judges are human after all. A dear friend of mine contacted me about a month before the competition to ask me if I could think of a way to create a Western Helmet that would actually LOOK GOOD ... She was so kind and said ..If anyone can do it, you can ... I took her belief in me to heart and I got to thinking on it ... I decided I would try - I had a vision - the hat would have to be BIG to balance the size of the helmet - it would have to look a bit different from a traditional Western hat in order to work - but could it be done? I thought it might could. So I tried. You can view this video of our Reserve Champion ride at the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover and see the hat a month after its creation ... https://youtube/watch?v=bMMif0MEINs .. Now the hat did not win the award - the Mustang did - and he was kind enough to let me along for the ride - but the hat was in the package too - Everything matters - Everything counts ... When I first made the hat, I had a friend tell me it was too big - but my husband convinced me to leave it that way and I am thankful he did, because that size is much of why it works.... It is a visual work of art. It was designed to be that and it is that. I have talked to numerous helmet companies and each one is determined to have it made by their supplier over seas.. I have attempted to work with them - but it as never panned out and never felt right. I keep coming back to the fact that his is a piece of art. And ART has to be crafted by hand, by an artist - not a machine - or some worker being paid much less than their worth to be a machine. If we make them out of a cookie cutter how will they not be a cookie cutter hat? I feel like this must be done by an artist - because it IS ART. - Just like a high quality Cowboy Hat is ART - This is more than a helmet. Now, my preferred method of sharing my Art is through my relationships with my Mustangs ... BUT I have had email after email from many of you asking me to PLEASE make a Western Helmet - I have had folks tell me they do not even wear a helmet now but WILL wear THIS! .. How can I not try to help?? It is not happening through a helmet company - it is up to ME. I have to - its in my divine plan to do so - and even though I do not know if this is something I can personally offer on a continual basis (Because it will SO TIME CONSUMING and my heart is in my time with my horses) .. I am going to devote myself to it now. The time for me to do this is now. When I first made this for myself it took 3 days. Literally. And that time was quality time. It cost me almost $150 in just supplies to create it. It was a labor of love. I have had to take this into consideration in determining the cost of what I can offer these to you for and the fact that it will take me a lot of quality time to do this .. The $300 price point is as low as I can possibly be. ($350 including your purchase of a new helmet from a local retailer) I have not had anyone comment on the price - but I wanted to share where I was coming from anyway - in case you were wondering. Thank you for sharing your precious time reading my thoughts. See marymillerjordan/westernhelmet for details.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:49:21 +0000
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