PLEASE READ!!!

I want to share something with everyone, which I hope will get passed around and shared again and again. The importance of riding with a helmet! I am guilty of leaving mine at home on a really hot day when it feels like I’ve wrapped a heat pack on my head. Or when I’ve been in a hurry, and just jumped on, thinking I would just do a short ride. Even though the proof is all around us; horse related accidents on the jumping course, rodeo arena, trail rides, etc. It has been the furthest thing from my mind during many of my rides, even though I have a history of knowing the benefits of protecting our delicate heads. Although helmets aren’t the most fashionable accessory to flashy riding attire, they are the most important.

This experience I have hits very close to home. For my thirteenth birthday, all I wanted to do was to get all of my Mother’s time! She offered to do anything I wanted that day, and of course, being a thirteen year old girl, all I wanted to do was to ride horses with her. She has always been my favorite person to spend time with, because she and I have everything in common. We can laugh at the same humor, talk for hours about the same things, and admire the beauty in the smallest objects. So naturally, horseback riding that day would be the best birthday present ever. Little did I know, my birthday afternoon would be spent at the ER.

This specific day, we chose to ride down an endless dirt road, so we had as many hours in the saddle as we wanted. A few miles from home, we began hearing construction a couple miles up the road from where we were riding. I was riding Roxie, and my Mom was on her horse, Kallany. Roxie began getting very nervous when we heard the equipment, and hopping off the ground with her front feet. This began making me nervous as well, so my Mom, being the selfless person she is, offered to switch me horses. I immediately accepted, because Kallany was just chillin. Mom helped me climb aboard Kallany, who stood perfectly still for my mount, and then Mom went to climb up on Roxie. As soon as she placed her foot in the stirrup, Roxie turned a quick 180, and headed for home. My Mom hadn’t gotten her other leg over the saddle, so was bounced right off of Roxies hind end, and landed square on the back of her head. I had never seen anyone fall like that before, so I sat on Kallany, waiting for her to get up. She didn’t.

The rest is a painful memory to share, however, she ended up with a very severe contusion, staples, and lost her memory for the entire year before the accident. Thank God, she made a full recovery, but still can’t recall any events of that day or the months before. And to this day, it’s still challenging for me to relax when I ride with other people. This severe injury could have been much less if she had been wearing a helmet, according to the doctor.

After this incident, we wore helmets every single time we rode…no exceptions. A couple years later, my best friend and I went trail riding again. She was in front of me cantering, and slowly began losing her balance, until she slipped sideways off the horse…who just stood there. My friend fell on her face, and cracked the helmet right down the middle. She suffered a severe concussion as well, fractured cheek bone, and lost her memory for months. Without the helmet, the doctor said that she would have been in really bad shape.

That brings us to why I’m writing this. Just this past week, I took a spill. My first one in over ten years. I train horses around 25-30 hours a week, and it was just one of those things. I wasn’t prepared, and ended up landing right on my face, very hard. It cracked my helmet, and gave me whip lash and a concussion. I was so grateful to have been wearing my helmet! The doctor said that it would have shattered my nose at the very least, had I not been wearing my helmet.

Now, for those of you who are new to horses, or interested in learning about them, don’t let these stories scare you. People fall off their own two feet more each day, than those thrown from a horses’ back. I am just hoping to make everyone aware of why it’s so important to ride with helmets. When I see people giving lessons to children, or parents sitting their child on a horses back without helmets, I cringe! How irresponsible! Also, everyone who is interested in riding horses should make the small investment to purchase your very own horseback riding – certified helmet. They can be bought for $30-$150. Bicycle helmets don’t protect all parts of the skull during the high impact of falling from a horse.

So, why don’t we all wear helmets? Football players, cyclists, skydivers, race car drivers, English riders, etc. all wear helmets! Why don’t we? It’s such a small price to pay for a potential life changing event! I hope this brings awareness to those of you who are more concerned with hat hair and looking cool, than protecting that delicate head of yours!