SUCCEED Launches National Helmet Awareness Campaign

SUCCEED's riders4helmets campaign, endorsed by the USEF, USEA and leading equestrians, aims to encourage more equestrians to wear helmets.

June 2, 2010 — The leading equine digestive health product SUCCEED? has teamed up with helmet advocate Jeri Bryant to launch an online helmet awareness campaign, www.riders4helmets.com. The campaign is designed to educate equestrians on the benefits of wearing helmets.

The Equestrian Medical Safety Association (EMSA) states that head injuries account for approximately 60 percent of deaths resulting from equestrian accidents. Approximately 12,000 equestrians visited emergency departments for head injuries in the U.S. in 2007 (Source: NEISS data 2007). SUCCEED aims to help reduce that figure, by creating awareness of how wearing a properly fitted ASTM/SEI-certified helmet can not only reduce the severity of head injuries sustained while riding but also help prevent death.

“After donating helmet awareness T-shirts to the SUCCEED eBay store, I realized we could take things a step further. I am proud of the support already being pledged to the campaign,” said Bryant.

John Hall, President of Freedom Health, LLC, which manufactures SUCCEED?, added “if we encourage more riders to wear helmets and can save others from going through what Courtney King-Dye and her family have, then we will have done our jobs.”

The riders4helmets campaign has already received the official endorsement of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), United States Eventing Association (USEA), American Riding Instructors Association (ARIA), Equestrian Aid Foundation (EAF) as well as leading equestrians such as: Olympic silver medalist Gina Miles; veteran eventers Allison Springer, Hawley Bennett-Awad, Cathy Wieschhoff and Lucinda Green; Eclipse Award winning jockey Frank Lovato Jr; and dressage rider and trainer Ilse Schwarz. In addition Charles Owen, Troxel Helmets and GPA Helmets have also pledged their support.

“The USEA is proud to support this helmet campaign as the safety of our members whenever mounted along with their horses is our top priority,” said Jo Whitehouse, CEO, USEA.

The www.riders4helmets.com campaign website homepage is a blog that will be updated frequently with news regarding the campaign. Articles already posted on the website include features on helmet certification, a dressage rider’s perspective, and questions for an equine law practitioner. The website also features statistics and other equestrian helmet-related information, a forum where site visitors can share their helmet-related stories and questions and a photo gallery of campaign supporters.

Individuals and retailers interested in either donating items to the SUCCEED eBay store, or selling the helmet campaign T-shirts in their stores, should email Lyndsey White at lwhite@freedomhealthllc.com for details. The eBay store can be found at http://stores.ebay.com/Courtney-King-Dye-Medical-Fund.

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