helmet saved my daughter's head by SusanMy twelve-year-old daughter Elizabeth was riding her 14.2 Arab cross horse “Banner” in the afternoon of Memorial Day weekend. She was wearing her fuchsia Troxel helmet (her absolute favorite and the envy of all her friends). They were cantering slowly up a relatively steep hill, and Banner stumbled. He fell forward, landed on his forehead, and skidded hard uphill for six or eight feet. Elizabeth did a Superman-style flat dive over Banner’s head and landed on the front right of her helmet and her left forearm. The barn manager and I actually saw the accident happen, and the fall was forceful enough that we were afraid that Banner was going to somersault over and land on Elizabeth (he didn’t), or that he was going to break his neck (again, he didn’t). Elizabeth fell with enough force that her left forearm was full of deep abrasions from wrist to elbow, and we thought she broke her collarbone (she didn’t). If she hadn’t had her helmet on, we would also have been calling 911 and worrying about a serious concussion or fractured skull. Even though Banner was hurt enough to go to the horse hospital that day and Elizabeth was very sore for over a week, everything turned out fine. It would have been ever so much more serious if my daughter had not had her helmet on.
I am an ARIA certified trainer at Mountain Meadows Ranch in Chatsworth, California, and I ALWAYS endorse any ASTM/SEI certified helmet. No one (child or adult, including me) gets on any horse in my charge without a helmet--EVER. Troxel makes an excellent product for a reasonable price, so in my estimation there is no excuse for riding without one. We sent our story and the helmet to Troxel for their helmet replacement program, and now Elizabeth has another fuschia helmet. She continues to ride with confidence, and I know she will be protected in the event of another accident.