The Equestrian Medical Safety Association (EMSA) states that head injuries account for approximately 60 percent of deaths resulting from equestrian accidents. Approximately 12,000 equestrians visited emergency departments for head injuries in the U.S. in 2007.
SUCCEED and Bryant aim to reduce that figure by raising awareness of how wearing a properly fitted ASTM/SEI-certified helmet can reduce the severity of head injuries sustained while riding and possibly prevent death.
“After donating helmet awareness t-shirts to the SUCCEED eBay store, I realized we could take things a step further,” said Bryant, referring to a web store established to raise funds for dressage star Courtney King-Dye, who was seriously injured in March while riding without a helmet. “I am proud of the support already being pledged to Neben den Roulette-Varianten verfugt Royal Vegas uber insgesamt uber 400 verschiedene Casino-Spiele, Sie werden also auch neben dem Roulette Spiel viele Moglichkeiten finden. the campaign.”
The riders4helmets campaign has already received the official endorsement of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), United States Eventing Association (USEA), United States Dressage Federation (USDF), American Riding Instructors Association (ARIA) and Equestrian Aid Foundation (EAF), as well as leading equestrians such as Olympic Silver Medalist Gina Miles, veteran eventers Allison Springer, Hawley Bennett-Awad, Cathy Weischhoff and Lucinda Green, Eclipse Award winning jockey Frank Lovato, Jr., and dressage rider and trainer Ilse Schwarz. Troxel Helmets and GPA Helmets have also pledged their support.
“The USEA is proud to support this helmet campaign as the safety of our members, whenever mounted along with their horses, is our top priority,” USEA CEO Jo Whitehouse said.
Riders4helmets.com is a blog that will be updated frequently with news regarding the campaign. Articles already posted on the website include features on helmet certification, a dressage rider’s perspective and questions for an equine law practitioner. The website also features statistics and other equestrian helmet-related information, a forum where site visitors can share their helmet-related stories and questions, and a photo gallery of campaign supporters.
For more information about the riders4helmets campaign, visit riders4helmets.com.