The Ground Comes Fast...

My discipline is hunter/jumpers, and I like to practice as much as I can; my pony has a really good jump, so we compete with much larger horses. Anyhow, we were taking a course to prep for an upcoming show, when things went sour.

I was taking him around an 8 jump circuit, alternating with my friend and her mare, when on the last jump he chipped. He had been behaving really well so I didn't expect him to act up; my first mistake. I had overshot him by a fraction of a second going into two-point too early. Over the oxer I lost my stirrups, so when his front hooves stuck the ground I was bounced off his left shoulder. You know things are bad when you can see your horse moving and you're not on him!

I hit flat on my back, connecting most with the back of my head and my tailbone, while knocking the wind out of me. For a minute I was in shock, I couldn't move. My friend went and caught my pony for me while my coach rushed to my side. I slowly rolled onto my knees, keeping my elbows on the ground trying to regain my breath. Once we made sure nothing was broken, I promptly got my butt back in the saddle.

We completed the course again, ending on a good note, we headed back to the barn. After, I had dealt with my horse, I examined my helmet realizing I had shattered the back of my Troxel Legacy's GPS system into two pieces. This helmet protected me from any head trauma, though I couldn't bend over or sit for three weeks without experiencing severe pain from a broken tail bone (not noticed until I went home and showered), or bend over without causing a headrush and/or invoking a mild headache.

I want to thank Troxel for making amazing, high quality products that protect their wearers from injury!