My 12 yr old daughter was at a 4H practice getting ready for an upcoming competition. Her horse was being well behaved, the weather was great, and the sun was shining. There was no indication that my daughter was about to have a horrific trauma.
While cantering down the side of arena Ty's feet slipped out from underneath him, all four feet going out to the left while Ty and Danielle hit the ground on their right side. Danielle's head was slammed into the ground with such force that it knocked her unconscious immediately. Ty laid still while I ran up and pulled left left leg free of the stirrup so she would not be drug when Ty got up. She was unconscious for about a minute. Danielle was transported to the hospital via ambulance where she was CT scanned and x-rayed. She had a level 3 concussion and a bunch of scrapes and bruises. The ER doctor said that wearing the helmet saved her life!
Later we inspected to helmet, it looked great from the outside, just a little dirty, but the inside showed a head shaped dent in the padding and hard foam on the right side. We went to the Toxel helmet website and ordered her next helmet. It is worth every penny!
Her horse is a sane, non bucking, solid 17 yr old gelding. It was not bad horse behavior or poor riding that caused this accident. It was a random freak accident where her horse slipped and slammed her into the dirt. There is no predicting something like this, that is why our horse rule has been and will continue to be "Horseback = Helmet" ALWAYS, no exceptions, period! Thank you Troxel for making a great product!