A rider whose horse rolled on top of her after a showjumping fall at Hickstead has credited her helmet for saving her from more serious injury. Grace Walker Raper’s nine-year-old gelding Alvaro De Reve tripped on landing after the water in a 1.25m derby.
“Alvin” landed on Grace, who had been thrown over his head, then rolled on top of her as he tried to get up. “I remember seeing the plasticine strip at the edge of the water and thinking I’d landed on it – and that’s all I do remember,” Grace said. “The doctors couldn’t believe I wasn’t more badly hurt – I haven’t even broken my nose, although I’ve got two enormous black eyes!”
Grace said her fall is a reminder of the importance of wearing a helmet of the appropriate safety standard. Her Charles Owen SP8 has a wider peak than many hats, to give protection from the sun, and although this was bent upwards in the impact, the shell appears undamaged. Grace said she will not wear it again and is to buy a replacement.
“I knocked myself out in a fall from the same horse a while ago, when I was wearing a different hat, and I felt much worse that time than I do now,” she said. Hopefully, you got an important message by reading this story. Do not neglect safety, because it always comes first.
