Tamie Smith and Mai Baum. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
During a special meeting of the US Equestrian Board of Directors on July 24, the Board approved an amendment to the protective headgear certification rule change, which was originally approved during the Mid-Year Board meeting in June (click here). With this amendment, the rule change will have an effective date of August 1, 2023.
This rule change expands the list of acceptable international testing standards for equestrian protective headgear, allowing more helmet and headgear options for competitors at USEF licensed competitions. By moving the effective date up to August 1, 2023 (from its original effective date of December 1, 2023), competitors can take advantage of the expanded options almost immediately rather than waiting until the start of the 2024 competition year.
“The expanded options that will be available to competitors at USEF national competitions is consistent with the FEI standards and clarifies other international testing standards that meet or exceed the ASTM standards,” stated Dr. Stephanie Bonin, Principal and Senior Biomechanical Engineer at MEA Forensic Engineers & Scientists and Chair of ASTM Equestrian Helmet Task Group.
The rule change intent was “To include SNELL Foundation as an acceptable helmet certification along with ASTM for use in USEF Competition. The FEI recognizes the Snell Foundation helmet certification as acceptable protective headgear.” The approval of this change now adds SNELL ratings to the list of currently approved rating systems for equestrian helmet. The Snell Foundation was established in 1957 to memorialize amateur racer Pete Snell after he died of head injury during an auto racing event. The Foundation created its own rating system for equestrian helmets which can be found here. The updated list of acceptable ratings systems can be found here.
Additionally, the list of accepted international testing standards and corresponding certified quality control labels for equestrian protective headgear have been posted on the USEF website rather than within the USEF Rule Book to allow for making future updates to the list without having to undergo the timeline associated with the rule change process. Click here to reference the International Test Standards list.
If you have any questions about this rule change or the types of protective headgear approved for use at USEF licensed competitions, please contact Katlynn Wilbers at [email protected].
