The Charles Owen “Strap One On” Helmet contest has now closed and we will be announcing the winner once all entries have been posted. The winner will receive a certificate for one of Charles Owen’s new Brown Ayr8 helmets.
Dear Riders4Helmets Symposium Attendees;
Riders4Helmets has made many equestrians, new and old, realize the importance of wearing a helmet. Helmets are being featured more often in magazines, worn more frequently by professionals, and seen as “cooler” by the younger generation all because of the work that Riders4Helmets has put forth. It goes without saying, that it is a tragedy that US Olympian Courtney King Dye’s accident had to be the turning point for so many people involved in the horse community. Courtney was a magnificent rider. When Courtney rode it seemed as though she was a part of the horse, like there was nowhere else in the world that she belonged more than on that horse’s back. However, it is for that reason that equestrians feel so strongly about Courtney’s accident, because she was THAT good. Aspiring rider’s may have looked at Courtney prior to her accident thinking that it was okay not to wear a helmet because she and so many other professionals did not. Even more so, these riders may have thought that Courtney didn’t have to wear a helmet because she was such an excellent rider and someday, if they improved in their riding, maybe they too would be able to enter the professional world and not have to wear a helmet. However, riders should always wear a helmet, whether they are riding for their first time on the back of a seasoned school pony, or cantering down the centerline at the Olympics. Horses are unpredictable animals. No matter how green or bombproof the horse may be they can still trip over their own feet in the best of footing, they can still feel the pain of a bee sting and flee in avoidance and they can still spook at the squirrels hiding behind the trees waiting to attack them on a quiet trail ride. In fact, the horse Courtney was riding was behaving wonderfully the day of her accident, all he did was trip.
Riders4Helmets and Courtney King Dye have not only created an awareness for the importance of helmets in the vast majority of the horse community, but have also made many horse people realize how lucky they are to be able to step up into the stirrups for a ride. I cannot imagine my life without horses. The first thing I do every morning is walk out to the barn to feed. In the hours following, I will tack up many horses and sit in many saddles. I will take my horses to the ring to work or bring them out on the trail all while wearing my Charles Owen helmet because I know how quickly my way of life can be stripped from me. For this reason, so many more people are cherishing their time spent in the saddle, or even their ability to brush their own horse by wearing a helmet. I think I can speak for many other equestrians when I say that I would be completely lost if all of a sudden I was unable to do the things I enjoy most, like turning out the horses on a foggy spring morning or going for a hack in the field in autumn when the leaves change to shades of orange and red. It is the simple things that we take for granted that would be so heartbreaking to lose.
Many rider’s have been humbled by the fact that someone as talented and as wonderful as Courtney King Dye could have such a devastating accident that they are choosing to put on helmets. However, for me and so many others, it is the courage and leadership that Courtney and Riders4Helmets has shown, that has continued my belief in helmets. Riders4Helmets and Courtney King Dye is the reason why I “Strap One On”, because it could be the difference between riding or spectating.
