Spoke too soon, helmet eats dirt.

I was just saying last Friday that I never fall on my head and last night I did just that. Went completely upside down, front tuck off the side of my horse, hitting the crown of my head first and rolling it out onto my back.

Nice knowing you CO AYR8

We were galloping down the long side of the arena, no biggie, do it often enough. Always balance up the corners and take them nicely. But this time he went flat out - like at the beach - and it was fun and cool and I was just mesmerized by the sheer power.

And then I saw the corner coming. And I watched Sam see the corner coming and I could see his gears turning about what to do. It's actually a legit corner with some jump standards in it, and then next to it is an opening to the back arena and then more fence, so in theory, we could have gone that way.  But I guess Sam decided to turn the corner, because I sure didn't tell him a darn thing.

We took the corner at flat out speed and our bark chipped, mostly dust bits, footing didn't appreciate our speed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam's back legs disappear left underneath his belly and down he went. I was apparently also pulling my inside rein. He must of recovered quick because I remember seeing his legs all around me as I did the full summersault. Bark down the back of my breeches...nice. I was told he nicely avoided me. Good boy.

I'm ok. My head hurt at the crown for about 30 mins, and then slight side of head headache on both sides. It was agreed that I probably didn't get a concussion. My fall was witnessed in full view by 2 people, with 2 others nearby. Today my head was totally fine, though a little achy tonight, and my right shoulder/neck area is very stiff and some general stiffness/soreness in my back. Went to the chiropractor last Friday... guess I'll be going back next week.

Luckily, I have a spare CO AYR8 that I normally just use for shows, so now it will become my full-time helmet. I haven't decided if I want to do anything interesting with my fallen helmet or just toss it (straps cut of course). I did peek inside and the foam didn't show any visible damage there.

Sam seems fine. I'm fine. I was just unprepared for that level of galloping in an arena. Next time, I will be the rider, not the passenger. :)