It is mandatory for all Members to wear a protective helmet bearing the CE mark and manufactured to one of the minimum standards listed below; the CE symbol on its own is not sufficient to ensure consistent standard of manufacture.
From January 1st 2016 only the following standards will be allowed in the Irish Pony Club:
British – PAS 015: 1998 or 2011* only if it has the BSI (British Standards Institute) Kitemark
American – Snell E2001* with the official Snell label and number
Hats bearing the EN 1384 standard ONLY are not permitted from January 1st 2016, but if a hat has EN1384 and PAS 015 then it is permitted.
* The PAS 015:1998 or 2011 and the Snell E2001 meet higher impact criteria and therefore give more protection.
No recording device is permitted e.g. hat cameras as they may have a negative effect on the performance of the hat in the event of a fall.
Electronic devices are not allowed in competition. They are allowed in the warm-up arena.
All riding hats that were not re-tagged this summer will need to be tagged throughout 2016. Those with the (old) purple (cross country) and yellow (other disciplines) tags will have to be re-checked.
The new tags for 2016 are green (cross country – skull cap) and white (show jumping). Hat tagging will take place at the Hunter Trial Championships and all other national competitions. Where competent people have been identified at Area and Branch level, they may be issued with tags and allowed to check and tag hats at branch level.
