High Risk Behavior???

So... my previous post got me thinking about where you draw the line between what is considered safe, and what is considered "not" safe. Everyone obviously has their own opinions about whether or not their hobbies (in most of our cases, horses!) range from mildly dangerous (say riding a bicycle down the street), to downright nerve wracking (think about something like skiing or snowboarding down an off limit part of a mountain, causing a landslide).
I don't know about you, but I tend to not think of horseback riding as an extreme sport. Maybe some disciplines are more likely to cause serious injuries, like extreme cross country jumping, but even that is debatable, because hopefully the riders who are competing at that level are competent.
That being said, I remember how shocked I was when Amber's trauma surgeon (she was thrown from a quad and stopped by a tree...not good combination...about two years ago), commented that she was lucky that she had never been severely injured before because she engages in what is considered by trauma surgeons and emergency rooms everywhere, as high risk, thrill seeking, life endangering behavior. What??!!! I was totally floored! I remember being like "horses??? Are you kidding me???" The answer was "no" he was not. And according to him, the fact that she rides ATV's was just the icing on the cake. He even jokingly asked if she skied or snowboarded as well.
I think that my little eye opening conversation helped me to realize that just about anything that we do, and that we allow our kids to do, can potentially cause harm, and it is our responsibility to ourselves, and to our kids (if we have them!) to make sure that we, or our kids, are educated in whatever it is that we/they are doing. Obviously we cannot keep bad things from happening, but we can actively make a decision to prevent something from happening (like potentially placing Katie and Sienna in a precarious situation), and as long as we take the necessary steps towards safety, we are at least eliminating senseless, needless, and preventable injuries or deaths from occurring. Should you make you or your kids wear a helmet, require that everyone who rides an ATV wear full body armor and a helmet, or penalize those who participate in "off-road" snowboarding or skiing? That answer is not up to me, it is up to the individuals who participate in any of those activities, and that is part of what makes us all unique! For the record, we do wear helmets when riding horses or quads (no armor though), and I have no problem if somebody wants to go off limits while skiing or snowboarding. See??? I am not a total fuddy duddy...lol!!!

PS-My above post does NOT refer to allowing your kids to "be kids"and then blaming yourself when someone gets hurt...I am thinking of a recent incident that involved tree climbing and a trip to the ER. You did nothing wrong in allowing your kidlets to climb trees, and please do not feel that you did! :) Hope that you and your little one are feeling better!