I've had two horse wrecks wearing Troxel helmets, and I like to think they saved my life both times. In January of 1996, while cantering a muddy trail, my horse side-stepped to avoid deep mud and then slipped in wet grass. His forehand went down, I was pitched forward on his neck than sailed over his left shoulder. I landed on my shoulder and head, and because my body was twisting, I also sustained a compression fracture to a vertebra. My helmet was cracked, but my head was not; I did not even lose consciousness (that time).
In September 2006, during an Endurance ride at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, my horse leapt off the trail to avoid being kicked by another horse. He then leapt back to his left, but I kept going. This time I woke up in the hospital in the middle of a CT scan. I had sustained a concussion (losing only my memory of the incident) and also fractured my scapula, something I'm told is very hard to do. But, I was alive and lived to ride again! So, this is twice that my head is still intact thanks to wearing a Troxel helmet. I would NEVER get on a horse without a helmet, not even to walk around the farm.