Ask the expert

ABOVE: A NEW RIDING HELMET STARTS WITH THE DREAM DESIGN FOR AESTHETICS, AIRFLOW AND COMFORT.

AS DRESSAGE BIDS A FOND FAREWELL TO THE TOP HAT, CHARLES OWEN’S DESIGN ENGINEER MATT STEWART LOOKS AT THE FUTURE OF THE RIDING HELMET AND HOW IT IS EVOLVING TO OFFER IMPROVED PROTECTION WHILE MAINTAINING HIGH AESTHETIC APPEAL.

The basic construction of a helmet is a hard outer shell and an energy-absorbing inner. ey materials are S or fi breglass for the shell, however, we use other supertough innovative materials too. The energy absorbing liner is usually a high impact EPS, but again, there are new, exciting materials like our Viconics liner which can take multiple impacts.

This depends on the sport. Cycling helmets for example, are much lighter and have more ventilation. But the extreme energies, force and impacts involved in horse riding require more absorption and protection, therefore the standards are higher.

he protection off ered is pretty e ual which is a result of years of research and development. Any vulnerabilities in prototypes are quickly rectifi ed or improved as we have an onsite lab.

There is always a battle between protection and aesthetics. Riders want to be safe but equally don’t want to be riding in a motorcycle helmet. They need ease of movement and a wide range of vision. We’ll sit down with our designers and engineers and start with the dream helmet design for aesthetics, airfl ow and comfort. hen we make adjustments over several months, involving testing hundreds of prototypes, which ensure the helmet exceeds the highest British safety standard (PAS015:2011) and we’ve ticked all the boxes!

Peaks are changing in order to make them more fl e ible upon impact for safety and there is a developing trend for bigger pea s to give more protection from the sun and rain but also as a fashion statement. arnesses are made from durable materials, have buc les and are designed with diff erent systems to ma e sure they hug the head so are as safe as possible. owever, riders do have to wear their helmet harnesses nice and snug to ensure they are as well protected as possible.

properly fi tting helmet is a safer helmet, for e ample a child’s helmet should fi t do not buy a helmet for a child to grow into. If it’s too loose or e posing too much of the forehead it could roll forward or bac in an accident which could be very dangerous. elmets are tested and designed to perform as e pected, assuming they fi t the wearer.

op hats used to signify dressage, but harlotte Dujardin and others have done a fantastic job to promote safety in the discipline, which ultimately saves lives. ust because there are no jumps involved, doesn’t mean that accidents can’t happen. he original design of traditional helmets used to be only a velvet covered shell with a bit of comfort foam, off ering ero impact protection, but customers li ed them as they were slim. han fully, helmet standards and product design have evolved substantially, meaning you can have a beautiful helmet which is also safe

es we do harlotte was instrumental in helping push the bespo e designs of our helmets to match tailcoats e also have the help from our sponsored riders in feedbac on new designs. hey are riding all day, every day so their views are invaluable.

ll helmets have to undergo testing of varying degrees. hese will include tests for helmet roll off ’, spi e impact, ha ard edge impacts and crush tests to simulate the inds of accidents riders may have.

I thin it’s better to go for a helmet with more than one impact standard, as more accident scenarios are covered, but I consider that the British PAS015:2011 standard sets the bar and certainly wouldn’t let my ids ride in a helmet which didn’t have this standard. his ritish standard has a higher threshold of testing for a number of measures. hese might just loo li e numbers on a piece of paper, but when you see a S helmet ta ing the impact of a crush force vs. a non S helmet, you’d always ma e sure you had this level of protection.

e have been wor ing on research with hD students and our engineers to enhance our nowledge on brain injury and this is fuelling our product development. here are some very e citing prototypes in our lab for new technologies and materials to ma e riding safer and as comfortable as possible there are some game changers on the hori on han fully, the helmet standards are also evolving and this will force all helmets on the mar et to become safer which will be a benefi t to all riders.

BELOW: RIDERS WANT A BEAUTIFUL HELMET WHICH IS ALSO SAFE.