Eclipse gets stung

Last week, after a glorious, mellow trail ride, my helmet saved me from serious injury.

I had just dismounted, and my 5 year old PMU mare, Eclipse, was tied to the trailer. I was reaching up to remove her bridle, when she suddenly pulled back hard against her lead rope. Suddenly, she reared up and lunged forward, coming down right on top of me. Her front hoof hit my shoulder, hip and leg. Her chest came down directly on top of my head, slamming me to the ground.

Thankfully, I still had my helmet on. I was stunned, but not knocked out. When I stood up, another rider standing near by said, "I didn't think that was going to end well." It wouldn't have ended well if I didn't have a helmet on. But because I did, I walked away with a minor concussion (and a helmet with 3 big dents in the top). Eclipse had a huge welt on the side of her neck, the result of a nasty bite of some sort, explaining her unusual behavior. Just goes to show: even a very mellow, well trained horse is still a horse. Things happen. One more reason to always wear a helmet.