Riding helmet standards: what each one is.

Three different things on one label

Three ideas are easy to mix up. A test standard is the laboratory specification a helmet model was tested against, such as ASTM F1163 or PAS 015. A quality mark shows that a certification body keeps checking production against that standard; the FEI defines quality testing as monitoring the ongoing quality of the product according to the original standard. A competition rule is a governing body's list of which standards and marks it accepts, from which date. This page covers the first. The tags and quality marks page covers the second, and the helmet rules by body page the third.

None of these says a helmet will prevent injury. US Equestrian's posted list states that no headgear can prevent serious injury or death in certain circumstances, and Charles Owen, a maker, says in its user guide that no helmet protects against every foreseeable impact.

ASTM F1163 (United States)

ASTM F1163 is the "Standard Specification for Protective Headgear Used in Horse Sports and Horseback Riding". ASTM's store lists F1163-23 as the current revision. Its published scope says it sets minimum performance criteria and describes tests of how well a helmet reduces head acceleration when it strikes objects of different shapes, using a flat anvil and an "equestrian hazard anvil". Before impact testing, helmets are conditioned at room temperature, in cold, in heat and by soaking in water, and the testing follows ASTM F1446 except where F1163 says otherwise.

Governing bodies refer to several editions: F1163-04a (which ASTM lists as F1163-04a(2011)), F1163-13, F1163-15 and F1163-23. Which of them a body still accepts differs, as the rules page shows. ASTM also lists a work item, WK89946, proposing a test of whether a visor or brim can break in a way that reaches the face or eyes; we could not confirm its status.

The Safety Equipment Institute (SEI) is the certification route US Equestrian names for ASTM helmets: its list requires F1163 helmets to be certified through SEI. The FEI's 2026 list shows the SEI logo, with the description "A Subsidiary of ASTM International", among its examples of quality testing labels.

PAS 015 (United Kingdom)

BSI published PAS 015:2011 "Helmets for equestrian use" on 1 July 2011. In 2014 the European Commission, explaining why it withdrew the European standard, cited PAS 015 and Snell as offering a higher level of safety than EN 1384:2012, and pointed to PAS 015's helmet stability test as something the European standard lacked.

The sources disagree on its status. BSI's own catalogue lists PAS 015:2011 as withdrawn on 3 January 2025 and names no replacement. Yet the FEI list published on 1 July 2025 (which we read through a copy hosted by another body, because the FEI's own page could not be opened) still accepts "British PAS 015 2011 & Updates" from 2026 onward, and so do Equestrian Australia's February 2026 national list and the 2026 hat rules of British Riding Clubs. For competition purposes the bodies' lists are the rule; the catalogue status is BSI's.

The older 1998 edition has been phased out by UK bodies at different times. Equestrian Trade News reported in December 2022 that British Showjumping had withdrawn PAS 015:1998 at the start of 2022, and that British Eventing, British Riding Clubs, The Pony Club and RDA would not allow it from 1 January 2023. A footnote on BETA's 2023 chart says Endurance GB and British Horseball would drop it at the end of 2023.

EN 1384 (Europe) and the 2014 withdrawal

On 13 October 2014 the European Commission (Implementing Decision 2014/714/EU) withdrew the reference to EN 1384:2012 "Helmets for equestrian activities" from the Official Journal, so the standard no longer gave a presumption of conformity under the PPE Directive. The decision listed its shortcomings as shock absorption (comparable standards use more than one anvil and higher energies), shell penetration (a drop height half that of Snell), side stability, temple protection, field of vision and stability on the head. The same decision records that the 1996 edition had lost its presumption of conformity on 30 April 2013.

A trade report from December 2014 said UK bodies, among them British Eventing, British Riding Clubs, The Pony Club, British Dressage, British Showjumping and the BHS, would allow EN 1384 hats through 2015 but not after, and that BETA said riders who did not compete need not change their hats.

CEN announced EN 1384:2023 on 18 December 2023 as a harmonised standard, prepared by its head protection committee (CEN/TC 158, working group 5, "Helmets for horse riders"). CEN says the new edition adds hazard anvil tests and raises the shock absorption and mechanical strength requirements, ending nine years without a harmonised equestrian helmet standard, and that it was cited in the Official Journal on 11 December 2023, giving a presumption of conformity with PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425. It covers helmets with or without a peak for riding, driving and handling and caring for horses. A national catalogue listing seen only in a search says it supersedes EN 1384:2017; we could not confirm that. No source we found says whether the 2023 edition includes a rotational impact test, so we do not say either way.

VG1 01.040 2014-12

After the 2014 withdrawal, a group of European test houses and notified bodies wrote an interim specification, known as VG1, so that CE certification could continue, according to a UK farm-safety notice from December 2014. Bodies cite the edition as "VG1 01.040 2014-12". The FEI's 2026 list treats CE-marked products referencing VG1 and EN 1384:2017 as one entry. The US Pony Club's safety committee wrote in September 2024 that VG1 was replaced by the EN 1384 enacted in 2023.

Snell (United States)

The Snell Memorial Foundation's board approved its E2021 equestrian standard in July 2021, when E2021 certification testing began and E2016 testing ended. Snell said E2016 labels would be available until 1 April 2022 and E2016-labelled production had to stop by 30 September 2022. Models certified to E2016 after 1 April 2019 that still complied could apply for shortened E2021 testing.

The FEI says Snell combines a standard with later quality testing, so no separate quality mark is needed. US Equestrian's list describes Snell differently, as an "ISO accredited lab, not 3rd party tested".

E2016 is a point of disagreement. The US Pony Club's safety committee (September 2024) says E2016-marked helmets are out of date and should not be used. The FEI's 2026 list, Equestrian Australia and the UK unified 2026 rule all accept E2016 alongside E2021. The older Snell E2001 is not accepted on the FEI list from 1 January 2026, and UK bodies dropped it on different dates between 2022 and 2024.

AS/NZS 3838 (Australia and New Zealand)

The US Pony Club describes AS/NZS 3838:2006 as covering impact absorption, penetration, retention system strength, fit, durability in different environments and material strength; we have not checked that against the standard's own text. The FEI accepts it only from 1 January to 31 December 2026, and Equestrian Australia said on 22 April 2026 that it will not be accepted in its competitions from 31 December 2026. An older 2003 edition appears on BETA's 2023 chart for one body only, the UK Polocrosse Association. The FEI also lists the Australian "ARB HS 2012" as not accepted from 1 January 2026.

To compare the standards on a helmet's label against a body's published list for a given date, use the helmet standards checker. The body's current rules, the hat tag and the officials at the event decide.