Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE
True Helmet Stories from HORSE-SENSE Readers


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helmet story by Sarah

I always wear a helmet, and always have, with very few exceptions. Its the exceptions I want to tell about. The first exception was as a 15 year old owner and trainer of a champion large pony jumper in Canada. We lived on a farm and I was busy building a cross country jump about 1/4 mile from the barn. Tired(and stupid) on this hot August day, I grabbed my kid sisters small pony for a lift back to the jump site, back of her halter in one hand and a small aluminum step ladder,bucket,hammer and bolts in the other. This pony had been exposed to all manner of childrens fantasy circus style riding and was so small my feet almost touched the ground. Well she had a lesson to teach this bigshot, and soon ditched me. There was one rock in the whole field, and naturally my head hit it. I have no idea how long I was unconscious but the pony was long gone when I awoke. The next exception was years later when I took a job in a large stable exercising sale animals. None of the other riders wore helmets. Vanity got the better of me and ,well,lets just say that is another story I will tell another time, but it also resulted in a concussion. Oh, one more story- this time I had a helmet on. While out on a ride, my big event horse fell,trapping me under him,getting up his front hoof hit me on the side of my helmet, I remember the thud and the next thing I remember was waking up and vomiting. Of course we were a mile from home and alone. If I had not had that helmet on I probably would be dead. My message is this: Believe in Murphy's Law. Please always wear a helmet.

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