Not using a helmet could have killed him by LauraA friend's boyfriend was tacking up a greenbroke Appaloosa mare to head out on the trails for a ride with friends when he sustained a head injury. It is unclear to this day what happened, as he did not remember well enough and no one really saw it very well. At any rate, while leading the mare out to mount up, she reared and he either tripped and fell or she reared and struck him with a front leg and he fell and hit his head on the concrete where the hitching post was at. It knocked him unconscious and he started bleeding from one ear.
We called 911 and kept him down until they arrived - it was touch-and-go for awhile and he could easily have died. A few days and over $10,000 later, he was released from the hospital and is majoritally physically fine (I believe he has some hearing loss but nothing 'major'). Mentally, I think he either had a screw knocked loose or had it loose to begin with because he still does not ride with a helmet, nor does his girlfriend or her kids. I always do, as does my younger sister, and I highly recommend helmets to all of my friends. A close friend, his then-girlfriend, saw the whole incident and was horribly shaken up by it, but still will not use a helmet.
Prior to that incident, I wore a helmet 90% of the time, but now I have sworn to never, ever ride or tack up a horse without it on...accidents can happen anywhere, anytime, with an extremely broke horse or a very green horse; you can't predict these things.