My 13 year old daughter has been riding since she was 5. Five years ago we went to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto and purchased her a Troxel Cheyenne Black and Pink helmet as an early Christmas present. Last year she began Barrel Racing and fortunately had been accident free until September 27th 2010. As we live in Ontario, Canada helmets are mandatory for persons under 18 years of age. This particular Sunday began like any other horseshow, my daughter was completing her second barrel racing run and as she and her horse were beginning to slow down to turn and exit the gate, her horse made the turn as she should have but my daughter was not ready for that turn and flew off the side of the horse head first into the steel fence which enclosed the riding ring, my daughter dropped to the ground.
The ambulance and paramedics were on sight and saw the fall. Madison become conscious within a couple of minutes and was able to sit up on her own. She was in shock, and green in colour. The paramedics checked her over and stated to everyone standing around her that with the intensity of the hit into that steel fence that Troxel helmet saved her life. My daughter does not remember hitting the fence or much of the rest of that day. She suffered a concussion, two cracked ribs, whiplash and bruising on most of the left side of her body. The outside of her helmet had only a couple of indentations, the screws and some bling are missing from the left side of the helmet. The inside of her helmet was not intact after the accident.
Madison has been to a couple of competitions since the accident but her ribs and head are telling her it is too soon to be riding.
I would just like to thank Troxel for making such sturdy helmets and for saving my daughters life. The Royal Winter Fair begins in two weeks and we will return to purchase another Troxel Cheyenne Helmet.