International Helmet Awareness Day

The importance of riding with a hat.

International Helmet Awareness day takes place from 18th-19th August 2018. It highlights the importance of riding with a correctly-fitted riding helmet. Riders around the globe will have the entire weekend to find the best fitting helmet and learn about why wearing one is so undeniably important.

Whether you are a happy hacker or a professional rider and competitor, safety is of number one priority.

Horse riding is considered to be more dangerous than downhill skiing and motorcycling. No matter how much we believe we know our own horse, they do have minds of their own. It only takes a split second for something to go wrong - even the most docile and quiet of creatures can spook or react in an unexpected way. When mounted, a rider’s head is high above the ground, and if moving at speed, the force a rider can be thrown to the ground at can potentially cause very serious injuries. Protecting a rider's head by wearing a helmet can save lives.

Different disciplines obviously pose different levels of risk, however experience does not play a part in any horse riding accident. Research actually suggests that there is no correlation between level of skill and the chances of injury, therefore professional and experienced riders have the same risk of injury as complete amateur riders.

Here at ‘The Drillshed’ we stock two brands of helmet, Charles Owen and Gatehouse; both brands are manufactured in the UK. They promise a stylish and elegant look and most importantly adhere to all the UK required safety standards. We asked Charles Owen about their helmets and how they protect us in a fall.

Charles Owen

Charles Owen have a large range of helmets certified to three international equestrian safety standards, offering the best possible protection should an accident occur. The company randomly and independently batch test their products to ensure the highest level of protection is consistently maintained and met.

Charles Owen helmets consist of a hard outer shell with a protective liner made of high-grade polystyrene, a material that can be considered as microscopic bubble wrap. Upon impact the layers of bubbles burst, giving your head more stopping distance and therefore reducing the chance of injury to the brain.

You can see here the layers of a Charles Owen helmet. The expandable polystyrene is surrounded by the Outermost layer and Fiberglass shell. The headband provides the comfort and gives the hat its uniquely comfortable and individual fit.

Ensuring your hat is the right fit is incredibly important, a poor fitting helmet can prove useless in an accident. Check out this BETA standards video to check if your helmet is the right fit.

There are several things to bear in mind when buying and wearing a riding hat. Firstly, always ensure that you fasten the harness/strap of your riding hat. Additionally, always make sure the peak is parallel to the ground and don’t be tempted to tilt it back on your head, as it will compromise the helmets protection.

If you have a fall and hit your head, or your hat is simply dropped and suffers an impact, you should replace it immediately. Even if you cannot visibly see damage to it, there could be internal structural damage, compromising its level of protection.

Join the conversation by using the #Safety365 on Twitter and Instagram to see what riders around the globe are doing on International Helmet Awareness Day! 

Shop our full range of hats and helmets here.

Written by Charlie Davis