Body protectors manufactured to a new safety standard will go on sale from 1 October, the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) has confirmed.
Riders have been urged not to panic as BETA is continuing to advise all riding organisations to accept both the 2009 and the new 2018 BETA standards “for the forseeable future”.
Most organisations have recently updated their rules to only accept body protectors marked 2009 or any later revision to the standard — such as this new BETA 2018 label.
Body protectors holding the BETA 2000 logo are out of date and cannot be worn under most rules.
British Eventing, Point-to-Point Authority, British Horseracing Authority, British Team Chasing and British Riding Clubs rules all state that body protectors must comply with BETA 2009 or subsequent standard, which would include BETA 2018.
The Pony Club has confirmed that it will continue to accept purple label 2009 body protectors for the next six years as well as the new BETA 2018 standard.
“The Pony Club will continue to require Level 3 of either standard for cross-country,” added the spokesman.
The new BETA level 3 logo is Cambridge blue, a change from the purple logo that has been used for more than 20 years.
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“The disciplines that set a minimum standard for body protection have now changed their rules to only accept garments marked 2009 for next year and all have indicated that they will accept the 2018 version when available,” said a statement on the BETA website.
“They will continue to accept 2009 garments for years to come as was the case with the 2000 version but no time limit has been set.
“It is likely however that they will continue to allow the 2009 version for at least the next six or more years which equates to the typical life of a garment.
“BETA continues to advise all riding organisations to accept both 2009 and 2018 BETA standards for the foreseeable future in their rules.”
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