Paul – Sorry to hear about your
mishap but glad you are OK!!
I would strongly suggest replacing your helmet,
as the protective properties of it may have been compromised in the accident,
even if it doesn’t appear to be damaged. I have sent 2 Troxels back under
their replacement policy, which costs about ½ as much as a new helmet.
Even if you don’t have a
replacement policy, it’s a good idea. In the dressing room of the first
tack shop I ever went to was a sign that said:
Helmet: $100
CAT Scan: $900
MRI: $1500
Kristen in TX
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Paul Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 5:43
PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] My Helmet Test
When I first started doing endurance, my wife insisted that
I wear a helmet. All my life. I have avoided wearing even hats, as my hair is
thick and my head gets too hot and sweaty. But as a compromise for being
allowed to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on a hobby, I have agreed
to wear a helmet whenever I ride. It is a fair trade, and I have done so
for a couple of years now.
So this past Monday, a couple of local riders were coming
over to my place for a training ride. (We adjoin 2900 acres of StateConservationLand). I got to the barn
a little late, so they headed out on trail ahead of me. I saddled up my 4 year
old, General Lee, who is showing a lot of promise to become an Endurance Horse.
We went to my round pen to do a little warm-up, and when I went to get on
him, disaster struck.
In an effort to improve my posture, I sometimes wear an
elastic back brace, ( like a Wal-Mart employee type thing). When I first
mounted, the darned velcro came undone and it fell off. So I dismounted and
started to get on him again. Perhaps the focus was too much about keeping the
gut sucked in, so the darned belt didn't fall off again, but anyways, my right
foot didn't clear the saddle cantle and instead bounced off and onto General
Lees back. Being a sensitive horse he tucked his back end down a bit and took a
step forward. This of course led to my leg/foot sliding a bit further down his
back, which encouraged him to take another step forward. As a natural
consequence of these moves, I wound up hanging off to the side, with my
legs trying to do the splits on a moving horse. As a 58 year old male non-yoga
practitioner, this did not work well for me.
As this point events seemed to speed up quite a bit.
After flying off and hitting the ground flat on my back, (note to self: quit
putting off getting sand for the round pen to cover the rocks. It really
hurts when you land on them), I was dragged a few feet before getting my left
foot out of the stirrup. (This happens when you instinctively yell loudly upon
hitting the ground. The horse is likely to quickly move on out). At some point
in the festivities, General Lees rear hoof and my head made contact . My
helmet has scrapes and scratches, but no cracks. My head has no cracks that
were not there previously.
I wound up with a good sized raspberry colored bruise on my
face and scrapes and bruises all down my shoulder and back. Every back
muscle on my left side is swollen and really sore, but x-rays showed no broken
bones. Guess this extra flesh I've been carrying is good for something, like
cushioning bones from breakage.
Of course even though it wasn't General Lees fault, you
still have to show a young horse that they can't get away with things like
this. So after washing the blood off my face, I put a halter on him, tied him
to the fence and got on and off him a half dozen times to ensure he understands
the importance of standing still while the rider is mounting or dismounting.
Usually he does this very well, but it was good to reinforce this. After that,
we rode about 5 miles until my muscles tightened up too much. It will be a
couple of weeks until I can get on a horse again, but without the helmet, it
would have been longer.
It is ironic that I have ridden some of the most rugged
trails in the country with out a problem, and get stoved up getting on a well
broke horse in my own round pen. As soon as the swelling goes down, I will
laugh about this. Right now it hurts too much to laugh.
Thank you Sue Crewes, (who nagged at me for years about
helmets) and Thank you to my wife who demanded it.
Paul N. Sidio
Piper (Yippie , two more weeks off before the Old Dominion)
