Sporting no.1 - safety

In the picture: Kasia Miętus during National Eventing Team grouping in Racot, March 2016, phot. Alicja Cybulska Polish Eventing Team

Safety is the number one on a list of everybody who does sport. Goals of a professional sportsman differ from targets of people who ride for fun, however one aim is always common - to safely come back to the stable. Horse riding is regarded as a dangerous sport (of high-risk), often even as an extreme sport. It is surely due to the fact that riders cooperate with horses - big, strong, reacting quickly and instinctively animal. For many people, horses' behaviour may seem unpredictable, which only intensifies respect towards those animals. This sport requires from riders psychological and behavioural knowledge about the horses.

It is a sport in which mere talent and physical skills are not enough. Our bodies have to learn certain reactions in order to act almost instinctively in "tight corners." Despite our experience that improves with time we spend in our saddles, each of us - riders happens to have moments where we are on the verge of safety, moments that are dangerous to our health, even life. Injuries or traumas are caused by kicks, bites or hits, which usually could have been foreseen if we knew the horse's behaviour. Nevertheless, there are situations that are absolutely impossible to foresee. Namely falls - both from the horse and with the horse.

Helmet

In the picture: Kasia Miętus during National Eventing Team grouping in Racot, March 2016, phot. Alicja Cybulska Polish Eventing Team

Depending on whether you ride for fun or practice some particular riding discipline, you need proper head protection. Helmet producers divide their products into safety levels according to which standards a particular product meets.

You might ask - who needs those standards and why? First of all: rules of each discipline define the rider's clothing, if it comes to a high level competition, all riders ought to use proper equipment while they participate.

How does it apply to a "fun rider?" Well, imagine a situation where the rider falls off a horse and becomes seriously injured due to improper helmet's "work." For example: the helmet breaks during a fall and damages your head instead of protecting it. Everybody would prefer to avoid such situation - standards and certificates guarantee that a particular model of helmet underwent endurance test with a positive result, so the given situation will not take place. What if it happens anyway? Then you are allowed to sue the helmet's producer, who would have to pay you a huge damages.

To become familiar with what the helmet producers offer us, we will compare two models of Samshield helmets below.

Shadowmatt Helmet

This helmet meets the following standards:

• CE EN 1384 (European Normes - Helmets for Equestrian Activities),
• ASTM (American National Standards Institute),
• SEI (Safety Equipment Institute),
• VG1 01.040 2014-12.

Shadowmatt helmet was made from a matte, scratch-resistant material - polycarbonate. This material's assets are durability and lightness. Innovative, very aesthetic ventilation system efficiently channels heat excess from the helmet's shell. This helmet perfectly fits to a rider's head due to interchangeable sponge inserts in various sizes, which can be attached in four spots on clips. It also simplifies keeping them clean - depending on your needs, you can detach and wash them.

For cool, or even winter days, the producer offers you attachable inserts that will provide you with warmth.

Many Polish riders decided to use this model - both jumping riders (for example Marek Lewicki, Lisa Chrzanowski, Krzysztof Ludwiczak, Maksymilian Wechta or Dajana Pawlicka), and dressage riders (Gabriela Jaworska-Mazur, Anna Grygier-Wójtowicz, Jasiek Gawecki, Iwona Szafir and Anna Łukasik).

XC Helmet

Samshield XC helmet was made from carbon fibres that guarantee incomparable durability and is characterised by little weight. The shell's inner side is covered with polystyrene in order to provide additional amortisation in case of an impact. The helmet's inserts are made from the same sponge, attachable on clips, as in the aforementioned model.

New Samshield XC helmets line was designed to provide safety in extreme equestrian disciplines such as cross or racing. Helmets for those disciplines require special certificates in comparison to dressage or jumping helmets. The XC helmet has PAS015 standard certificate, which is one of the most strict ones in horse riding. This certificate guarantees you the ability to start in international cross and racing competitions. It is considered to be one of the most stringent.

Most of helmets meeting this standard has much thicker shell, at the same time being much heavier than typical helmets. In the XC model, Samshield's engineers decided to use carbon fibres to create shell, which allowed them to reach a compromise between the helmet's weight and its durability. The helmet's shell is reinforced with polystyrene from the inside, which provides impact absorption in case of a fall.

What is more, it meets the following standards and certificates:

• CE EN 1384
• VG1 01.040 2014-12
• ASTM
• SEI

This model was chosen by Polish riders, performing more injuries-prone disciplines (for example Grzegorz Kubiak, Zuzanna Nowakowska).

Vest

All jumping riders should invest in a vest. It applies to all jumping riders: those taking part in show jumping, those taking part in eventing (cross-jumping-dressage), and those who jump only for fun during trainings.

We will examine one of vests on the market offered by Dainese company.

Dainese Milton Vest

In the picture: Kasia Miętus during National Eventing Team grouping in Racot, March 2016, phot. Alicja Cybulska Polish Eventing Team

Milton protective vest is designed for all equestrians. It is characterised by special protective material construction in the shape resembling honeycomb. Such structure guarantees the ability of shifting and proper rotation of filling material. The protective material in the vest absorbs impacts. It is made from a waterproof nitrile rubber, which due to puncturing allows proper body ventilation. Special loops in the bottom part allow you to attach the vest to your trousers, due to which the vest will always be in its optimal position while riding.

This vest has CE EN 13158:2009 level 1 certificate. It allows to use this vest during national competitions.

Dainese Milton vest is used by Polish rider Kasia Miętus who practice eventing.

All equestrian sports are dangerous in their nature and they carry high risk of injuries, which is why it is worth purchasing products of high-standard safety and protection. If horse riding is truly your passion - you should not try to safe some money on what can safe you and your close ones from possible traumas, which can contribute to permanent disablement, or even death.