Sunday, July 17, 2011

Riders4Helmets


The George Morris Mark III Helmet
I am a big fan of Riders4Helmets and have been since Lindsey White and Jeri Bryant introduced their website.  It seems as if these two people got together when the stark realization of how important helmets are hit the "horse world" and that was when Courtney King Dye had her accident.  From the beginning, I have loved their goal, it's short, sweet and gets right to the point, "To get more riders wearing helmets ... period"!  Furthermore and I quote their idea on the purpose of their website, "To educate equestrians on the basic facts of wearing a helmet; to promote a helmet wearing campaign on a National level by involving leading equestrians in various disciplines that will encourage an increased use of helmets; and to provide important links/resources to enable riders become further educated on the importance of wearing a helmet."  ....don't you just love their purpose????

I don't have access to statistics but I really feel that their website and subsequent campaigns have really paid off and that more people than ever realize the importance of wearing a helmet.  I must say that I felt a chill when I first saw some of the top Dressage riders wearing helmets rather than top hats in competition and although I attribute part of that to Ms. Dye's accident, I believe that Riders4Helmets was the catalyst for the push that was needed to inspire change!

On a personal note, when the R4H website was in its fledgling stages, Valie and I were featured, along with many other other equestrians and their horses, in a pictorial that showed us with our horses and wearing our helmets, along with a little blurb as to why we do so!  I was quite proud to be part of that but wait........it gets better!  Along with selling wonderful merchandise such as cute t-shirts, they have spear headed several contests and one of those contests was a huge helmet give-a-way!  On one of my visits to the website, I  randomly entered the contest and lo and behold, I was shocked to find that I was a winner!!  Many different helmet manufacturers were sponsoring this contest, every one from the new Samshield, to the GPA, Charles Owen, the new helmets made by Pegasus and many others.  And as a winner, I was the lucky recipient of a brand new Pegasus George Morris Mark III Helmet and although it has not arrived yet, after viewing it on the Pegasus website http://pegasushelmets.com/, it is one beautiful show helmet and features a very unique approach to custom fitting as well as comfort.  After I try it on and use it a bit, I will review it right here on my blog!

Well anyway, that's it for tonight, it's way past my bedtime and I have a full day ahead of me beginning tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM.  I will be visiting your blogs very soon and will return to mine to write again - Goodnight!