Category Archives: Equestrian Protective Gear

Understanding the Five-Year Helmet Replacement Guideline

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A young girl wearing a black helmet, navy show coat, white show shirt and black riding gloves is hugging the neck of a brown horse. The horse is wearing a green fly bonnet and a brown leather bridle.

Safety week is a perfect time to address customer confusion concerning the widely publicized and accepted five-year replacement guidelines for riding helmets. Quite a few customers have contacted us having noticed the manufacture date stamped on the interior label of their new helmets. They’ve been concerned that the date is an expiration date—and this is not the case.

The inside of a Samshield riding helmet shows 5 different stickers regarding the make, model, size and safety information of the helmet. A rectangular white sticker outlined in red with black text notes the production date and series number of this particular helmet.

The date and the series number stamped inside your helmet is required by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), which has verified your helmet meets the current required standard. This information is attached to the helmet in case a product defect is discovered or the need for a recall arises.

The five-year replacement guideline for equestrian helmets begins at the time of purchase and depends on frequency of use. (Keep the sales receipt for any helmet you buy as a reference for the age of your helmet. You may also need it to participate in a crash helmet replacement claim.) This five-year guideline is not a gimmick retailers and manufacturers use to sell helmets; it exists for the benefit of riders.

With use, helmet safety materials degrade, and the ability of the materials designed to protect you decreases as well. Perspiration, heat, hair spray, insect spray, exposure to sunlight, travel conditions and improper storage all contribute to a slow degradation of a helmet. Every time you wear a helmet, its materials heat up and expand. Every time you take a helmet off and let it cool and dry, the materials contract. That’s why the five-year plan is a guideline only, and common sense on replacement time should always apply to your situation. You can help maximize the life of your helmet by storing it in a protective bag or carrier, out of direct sunlight and in a temperature-controlled environment.

As an added note, within any five-year period, newer, better technologies and production methods are usually developed to boost coverage, safety and comfort provided by equestrian helmets.

When to replace your helmet:

  • You have worn it for five years.
  • You ride in it once or more daily, every day, for a year or two.
  • Your helmet starts to feel too loose or too tight.
  • You change your hairstyle drastically if you tuck it into your helmet.
  • The helmet’s harness loosens during rides, or the clasp doesn’t secure properly.
  • You had a crash and hit your helmet.
  • You dropped the helmet on a hard surface.
  • The helmet was stored improperly, such as in frigid conditions (frozen barn aisle) or in the excessive heat (backseat of a vehicle).

Please use common sense when considering helmet replacement and err on the side of caution.

Shop our wide selection of riding helmets and helmet accessories here.

What is your favorite helmet brand to wear? Share your photos with us on Instagram and Facebook by tagging @doversaddlery!

Body Protectors & Inflatable Vests: Beyond the Cross-Country Course

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Horse and rider are jumping over a cross country jump. The view is looking up towards the sky from below the horse and rider.

Three-day event riders on cross-country courses have long enjoyed the added coverage and confidence provided by the two main types of riding vests on the market today: traditional body protector vests and inflatable vests. At competitions, a protective vest is required to be worn in warmup for and during the cross-country test at any level. An inflatable vest is permitted in competition when worn over the traditional protective vest.

While neither of these vests is required to be worn during everyday riding in any discipline, we’ve witnessed an uptick in riders across equestrian sports choosing to wear one for added safety. We’re seeing these products in schooling rings, at the highest levels of showjumping competition, in the hunter ring and during dressage competitions—no USEF rule prohibits their use in front of a judge. Often these vests are used while working with young or fractious horses, during rider injury rehabilitation, and even on trail rides. The extra protection offered by this equipment has proven to be an asset. Some parents choose to have their children wear a body protector during regular lessons.

Body Protector Vest

Green eventing body protector vest

This type relies on foam to help dissipate shock and lessen severity of injuries in the event of a fall.  It is designed to protect the rider’s abdomen, internal organs, chest and ribs, and it offers a degree of protection against potentially dangerous objects while riding. These vests flex with the rider and allow for full mobility in various riding positions.

Outer fabrics are durable and give riders a chance to express personal style for those models in which colors or custom colors are available. Correct sizing to achieve accurate coverage is essential and is determined by a series of simple measurements. For a detailed description on fitting a protective vest, refer to our article here.

Inflatable Vest

An air vest is generally not considered to be a replacement for a traditional body protector vest. It is worn over a body protector vest to provide increased impact protection in the event of a fall.

Black inflatable eventing vest

An air vest has a cord or a lanyard that attaches to the saddle. If the rider is ejected from the saddle, the cord or lanyard triggers the vest’s activation device, which is fueled by a CO2 canister. In turn, this action punctures the air canister, which instantly releases air to inflate the vest before the rider hits the ground. 

Most air vests have protection zones which include chambers around the jaw to stabilize the head and neck, a protective area around the thorax and torso, and an area across the chest to protect the sternum and ribs. Some models have cushions to protect the rider’s hips.

While the air vest is reusable, after deployment a replacement canister must be installed. Outer fabrics are tough, wipe clean easily and are mostly black with some limited color options available. Sizing is simple and runs according to a rider’s weight and height.

Browse our entire selection of safety vests here.

Do you ride in a safety vest? Share your action photos with us on Instagram and Facebook by tagging @doversaddlery!

Have You Heard About MIPS—The Multi-Directional Impact Protection System?

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Rider putting on a riding helmet
Yellow MIPS Logo with black text

If you’ve heard people talk about MIPS®, you may be wondering what the buzz is about. MIPS stands for Multi-Directional Impact Protection System. It was invented in Sweden by Neurosurgeon Hans von Holst and PhD student Peter Halldin. As avid bicyclists, and professionals studying the brain every day, they knew that not every head injury resulted in a forward or backward fall, but most likely people fell to the side, and usually at an angle.

In bicycling, like equestrian sports, wearing a helmet is a choice. Using a helmet with MIPS technology is a choice, too. MIPS is not a full helmet, but a special liner inside the helmet. A MIPS helmet looks identical to a non-MIPS helmet, but inside you will see a thin yellow liner in addition to the foam of the helmet itself. Many helmet manufacturers carry helmet styles with the MIPS liner and without.

Yellow MIPS liner is shown inside of a helmet and how it sits on a riders head when wearing a helmet

The MIPS liner technology was developed to reduce rotational motion. This motion is a combination of rotational energy and rotational forces from angular acceleration that both affect the brain and increase the risk for brain injuries. The liner is made from yellow polycarbonate plastic, and it is designed to sit below the foam of the helmet. After putting the helmet on, you don’t even notice there is a little system cradling your noggin. It just sits there, protecting you from any unexpected rotational motion that could transfer to your brain and cause injury.

Do you need a riding helmet with a MIPS liner? With the new MIPS technology, the customer is now able to decide for themselves whether it is something they want to upgrade to and incorporate into their riding. The results point to less rotation in a helmet with MIPS than without MIPS. So, again, it is a choice. If you feel like an extra layer of protection couldn’t hurt, give it a try!

Browse our entire selection of helmets here.

Do you love to ride in your MIPS Helmet? Share your photos with us on Instagram and Facebook by tagging @doversaddlery!