Horsemanship Safety Articles
Every
Ride, Every Time!
Equestrian
Helmet Horsemanship Safety
By Lynn Gallup
Its never too late
too start --if you're still able to -- to wear an approved equestrian
safety helmet when you ride and then every time! Today's approved equestrian
riding helmets are more lightweight, ventilated, comfortable, stylish
(with many color choices), and more affordable then ever before. Certified
equestrian helmets start in the $35 range. There are helmet designs
tailored to both English and Western equestrians ideal for training, trail
riding, show, eventing, and ranch work.
Lori
West, Paso Fino owner in North Carolina comments:
I trail ride
with a helmet. When asked why, I reply, 'Do you wear a safety belt when
you drive?' I think I'm a decent rider, but you never know what is around
the corner. My husband, Greg, was once riding one of our most gentle
horses, and a freak incident caused him to hit the ground, hitting his
head. Luckily, he had on a helmet, and was just a little shaken. It
could have been much worse. I was once told there are two types of riders:
those who HAVE hit the ground and those who WILL hit the ground. I've
been lucky so far, with all my 'ground hitting' being very minor.
The facts speak for
themselves regarding the use of Equestrian Safety Helmets:
- Between 12 to
15 million persons in the United States ride a horse or pony every year.
- Most riding injuries
occur during pleasure riding.
- The most common
reason among riders for admission to hospital and death are head injuries.
- A fall from two
feet can cause permanent brain damage. An average sized 14 hand Paso
Fino horse elevates a rider four feet or more above the ground.
- A human skull
can be shattered by an impact of 7-10 kph. Horses can gallop at 65 kph.
- Head injuries
account for approximately 60% of deaths resulting from equestrian accidents.
- A rider who has
one head injury has a 40 percent chance of suffering a second head injury.
- Children, teens and young adults are most vulnerable to sudden death
from second impact syndrome: severe brain swelling as a result of suffering
a second head injury before recovery from the first head injury.
- Death is not the
only serious outcome of unprotected head injuries. Those who survive
with brain injury may suffer epilepsy, intellectual and memory impairment,
and personality changes.
- Hospital costs
for an acute head injury can be in the range of $25,000 per day. Lifetime
extended care costs may easily exceed $3 million. There is no funding
for rehabilitation outside the medical setting.
- Helmets work.
Wearing ASTM (American Society for Testing Materials) and SEI (Safety
Equipment Institute) approved helmets that fit correctly and have the
chin strap firmly applied. Other types of helmets, including bike helmets,
are inadequate for equestrian activities.
- Racing organizations
require helmets and as a result jockeys now suffer less head injuries
than pleasure riders do. The US Pony Club lowered their head injury
rate 29 percent with mandatory helmet use. Britain’s hospital
admission rate for equestrians fell 46 percent after helmet design improved
and they became in routine use.
- The American Academy
of Pediatrics, The American Medical Association through the Committee
on Sports Medicine, Canadian Medical Association, and the American Medical
Equestrian Association recommend that approved, fitted and secured helmets
be worn on all rides by all horseback riders.
Properly fitted ASTM/SEI
certified equestrian helmets can prevent death and reduce the severity
of head injuries such as concussion sustained with riding accidents. SEI
approved helmets have a proven efficiency of preventing or reducing the
severity of head injury. SEI’s program is a rigorous one which includes
annual compliance testing of all SEI-certified helmets, and stringent
annual quality assurance audits at the manufacturer’s plant to ensure
SEI quality requirements are maintained. SEI’s certification program
for equestrian helmets has provided an important contribution to the safety
of persons participating in horse sports and horseback riding. When the
SEI label appears on equestrian helmets you should have the assurance
that the helmet not only conforms to the ASTM F 1163 standard, but that
the manufacturer consistently turns out quality products. Such manufacturers
have voluntarily made a commitment to quality, to ensure that only safe
products make it to the marketplace. All approved and certified ASTM/SEI
brands of equestrian helmets are listed online at www.SEInet.org.
Linda York of Pass
Christian, Mississippi recalls a scary incident riding her Paso Fino mare:
We had hauled
our horses to Arkansas to ride in some very rocky, steep country. On
the first ride out, I forgot to wear my helmet. I had someone take my
photo in a stream bed so that I could email it back to my husband and
show him what fun we were having. His first reaction...where is your
helmet?! The next day, I remembered it because he had made such an issue.
Thank goodness I did, because I was pushed off my horse by a large limb
and landed flat on my back in a dry stream bed filled with large rocks!
I felt the helmet bounce off the rocks. A month later, and my back still
hurt from the fall, but my head was fine. The helmet was dented, and
I am sure there would have been some damage to my head had I not had
it on.
As per
horseback riding and children at events that don't require an equestrian
helmet, it is often up to the parents and adults present on the scene
at the time to oversee the situation and look out for the children's welfare.
Adults have to weigh the risk and of the kids' safety when riding ponies
and horses. Children are not capable of making those decisions, as they
can't understand the consequences of an injury. It is the adults' responsibility
to look out for the children's best interest.
PFHA rules require
approved safety helmets on youth riders aged 12 years and under any time
riding on the show grounds at a PFHA show event.
PFHA/USEF Steward
Fred Moretti of Mooresville, North Carolina tells:
I had the experience
at a large show last year to check the helmets of youth riders. Of thirteen
riders , three were not approved. One stated , “for bicycle riding
“ and the other two stated “for costume only”. All
three parents vowed , they did not realize they were not approved. At
another show , I noticed a youth rider with a chin strap that looked
unusual, upon inspection, I found it to be broken, held together by
a safety pin. Parents need to assume the responsibility for the safety
of their children.
All helmets are not
alike, and the public must be protected from companies making false claims
of compliance to a standard or claims that a helmet is SEI-certified,
when it is not. When the SEI label appears on equestrian helmets you should
have the assurance that the helmet not only conforms to the ASTM F 1163
standard, but that the manufacturer consistently turns out quality products.
Such manufacturers have voluntarily made a commitment to quality, to ensure
that only safe products make it to the marketplace. All approved and certified
ASTM/SEI brands of equestrian helmets are listed online at: www.SEInet.org.
Carol Nudell of Erdah,
Utah recalls with sadness:
My cousin's
daughter slipped off while trotting on a horse and busted her head open,
on concrete. She died in her mother's arms waiting for the ambulance.
She would be here today if she had a helmet on. The child took lessons
and always had to ride with a helmet, but this was 'just in the back
yard'.... no one thought anything would happen...and nothing DID happen.
The horse didn't spook, or bolt, or anything wrong." Carol explains
further: "To me, it's like seeing a kid in a car that isn't in
a car seat. I was an EMT for years and a safety officer for more years.
I see kids riding horses without a helmet, and yes, the kids and their
smiles are adorable. But I always think of my cousin's loss and her
horrible guilt over an instant's lapse in good judgment, and a death
that never should have happened.
It’s the law
in New York State! New York is the first U.S. State to impose a helmet
law:
"No person less than fourteen years of age shall ride a horse unless
such person is wearing a helmet meeting or exceeding ASTM F1163…Equestrian
Standard. For purposes of this section, "certified" shall mean
that the helmet's manufacturer agrees to the rules and provisions of a
system that includes independent testing and quality control audits, and
that each helmet manufactured by such manufacturer is permanently marked
with the certifying body's registered mark or logo before such helmet
is sold or offered for sale. For the purposes of this section, wearing
a helmet means having a helmet fastened securely upon the head using the
manufacturer's fitting guidelines for the particular model used."
In 2003, USEF implemented
a mandatory ASTM/SEI helmet rule for eventing. They encourage other disciplines
to mandate the use of properly fitted ASTM/SEI helmets.
Marcia Carrico of
Mocksville, North Carolina learned the hard way and remembers:
If I had been
wearing a helmet when the Morgan gelding I was training decided to bolt,
the saddle slid sideways, and the bucking strap caught him on his sheath;
I decided to bail out in a grassy spot. My head hit a hidden rock in
the middle of that grassy spot and I came to in the hospital with a
skull fracture! I have NEVER ridden without a helmet since then!
In conclusion, no
helmet can protect against every head injury. However studies show a great
reduction in both the number and the severity of injuries in those who
use helmets every time they do ride.
Nancy Strom, Paso
Fino owner, in South Carolina sums it up this way:
"Life
is like the lottery. All we can do is improve the odds with safety gear.
It's worth it!"
Guidelines
for A Proper Fit of an Equestrian Riding Helmet
1. Always wear an ASTM/SEI certified riding helmet.
2. When the helmet is rocked backwards and forwards, eyebrows and skin
on the forehead should move with the helmet.
3. The back of the harness should be snug enough to keep the helmet from
moving forward.
4. The helmet should be level and sit 3/4 to 1 inch above the eyebrows.
5. The helmet's side straps should meet just below and in front of your
earlobes.
6. The throat strap should go under the chin, and should be snug, but
not too tight.
7. A helmet should be replaced after a direct impact from a fall. |
www.tarlton.law.utexas.edu/dawson/amea/feb00nws.htm#fact
www.ameaonline.org
www.SEInet.org |
