sport horse snippets
Caps Off to Charles Owen By WT Staff
woman on a crusade—a crusade in honor of her daughter, Christen O’Donnell, who tragically passed away in 1998 at the tender age of twelve. Even though her horse was only at a walk, and Christen was wearing a traditional velvet hunt cap, she sustained a traumatic brain injury. What her mother did not realize at the time of Christen’s accident was that a hunt cap is simply a piece of apparel. “Riding is the only sport that makes a piece of
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apparel that looks like a helmet with a hard shell, but is unapproved and not manufactured for head protection,” says Kemi. “People do suffer head injuries and die because manufacturers are putting them out there and making them look like helmets.” For more than ten years, Kemi has campaigned in an
attempt to pass federal legislation, in Christen’s name, to stop the production and sale of all unapproved equestrian “helmets” in the United States. She is not trying to force equestrians to wear a helmet or even attempt to pass legislation that would make a helmet a requirement. Her goal is to protect consumers from making the same mistake that she did, purchasing something that looked like a helmet but was not. However, despite this equestrian mom’s best efforts, The Christen O’Donnell Equestrian Helmet Safety Act has yet to pass. It was just over two years ago, at the first Riders4Helmets
Safety Symposium in Palm Beach, Florida, that Kemi first met Roy Burek, managing director of well-known helmet manufacturer Charles Owen. There Roy learned of Christen’s death. By the third safety symposium, Roy had decided that he wasn’t going to wait for a law to pass to take matters into his own hands. “Following our third safety symposium together, I
received a call from Roy that changed my life,” reports Kemi. “I couldn’t believe my ears when Roy told me of his decision to stop manufacturing hunt caps in North America and to cease selling them on the market in 2013. This is something I can honestly say I never thought any helmet manufacturer would be willing to do.” For more than 100 years, Charles Owen has been in the business of manufacturing and selling hunt caps around the world (along with safety helmets), but by the end of 2013 that will no longer be the case. It has always been the tradition of Charles Owen that safety comes first and clearly the
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In 1998 Christen died of a traumatic brain injury when she fell off her pony with a hunt cap on.
company stands behind its words. Kemi is hoping that other manufacturers of hunt caps will follow Charles Owen’s lead. “If it weren’t for the Riders4Helmets Safety Symposiums, I
know I would not be writing this today,” Kemi says. “Lyndsey White and Dr. Craig Ferrell [founders of Riders4Helmets] had a vision, one that I know for certain has saved many, many lives. They believed that if they could create a forum where representatives from all riding disciplines, helmet manufacturers, safety companies, neurosurgeons, retailers, insurance companies, TBI survivors and people like me, who lost a loved one in an equestrian accident, could gather together and honestly educate each other about the safety concerns in the equestrian world, so that change truly could take place. For me, and also for so many others who have attended or watched the video from the symposia, that is exactly what has happened.” “I will be forever grateful to Roy and Charles Owen
for their heroic actions and for Lyndsey and Dr. Ferrell for creating a forum for education and changes to take place. In an article I read about Roy he said, ‘Using one’s life to make a real difference in others’ lives is what drives me, like my father and grandfather.’ That, I am here to say, he has done for me and for so many others whose lives may be saved by his decision. Thank you Roy for taking the lead and for keeping the promise you made to me that day. You serve as an incredible role model and it is my sincerest hope that others will follow.”
On Facebook, search for ‘Christen O’Donnell Equestrian Helmet Safety Act’ for more information. Go to
riders4helmets.com for more information on the Riders4Helmets campaign.
ometimes when a woman sets her mind on something, there’s just no stopping her. Kemi O’Donnell from Connecticut is a
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