WEAR YOUR HELMET!!!

[guest@endurance.net]

Susan Vuturo suvut@aol.com
I know most of you DO wear helmets, but I want to tell you what happened
to me yesterday, so it will be reinforced.

Another endurance friend and I were out on trail with our 3-year-olds,
just walking along.  The ground was pretty frozen.  My little guy was out
in front, and he stumbled on a piece of frozen mud.  An experienced horse
would have caught himself and come back up, but Encore went down on his
knees and hit his nose on the ground.

I tumbled over his shoulder and landed RIGHT on my head!  I saw stars for
a minute or two, got a pretty bad bruise on the inside of my knee from
hitting the saddle, and another bruise on my hip.  Encore moved off a few
steps and waited for me.  He had a bloody scrape on his nose and a very
small nick on his pastern.  That was all....

My friend came to see if I was OK and then said, "Oh My God -- your
helmet!"  I took it off and almost got nauseous.  It was a BRAND NEW
Legacy Gold helmet that I had gotten for Christmas.  The brim was split in
two and the entire helmet was split right up the center.  Additionally,
there was a fist-sized chunk out of the front of the helmet -- it looked
as if a hammer had been taken to it.

Today, I am very stiff and sore and have a headache and stiff neck.  BUT I
AM ALIVE!!!   Please pass this story along to all your pleasure riding
friends who do not wear helmets.  WE WERE JUST WALKING!!!!!   I am
planning to take a picure of the helmet before I send it back to the
manufacturer -- hopefully they will replace it.  I want proof to show my
own friends who do not wear helmets of what can happen.

Susan