12 year old killed at Clemson Rodeo

This past Friday a 12 year old was competing in the HS rodeo finals at the T Ed Garrison arena (Clemson) and was killed when her horse slipped and fell on her. She was taken to Greenville Hospital but died of head trauma on Saturday.

As I understand it (there are several variations that I've heard), she was taking the horse she was using down to the stall area from the outdoor ring when her horse slipped on the gravel and somehow went down with her. She hit her head on the pavement and the horse went down on top of her. Special prayer for her and especially her family.

We were discussing this over the weekend and I don't understand why riders under a certain age aren't required to wear helmets. She was hurt pretty bad by the horse but would have probably survived except for the head trauma.

Iride, I saw this on another horse BB and am devastated for that girl's family.

I agree; children under a certain age should be required to wear helmets, regardless of the discipline.

If an adult chooses not to wear a helmet, that's their business. It's everyone's business to protect children.

Awful, awful, awful....

My heart aches for her family.
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So many states have laws regarding the younger crowd wearing helmets. But even in those states it appears that people simply ignore the law.



Prayers for the girls family.

Saw this the other day, so sad. My heart aches for her family.

So sad to hear this. How devastating.

I believe that helmets and children shouldn't even be a conversation. It should be required whether they are show jumping, running barrels or doing walk trot pleasure.

What an awful story... My prayers go to the family.

The sad part is some people (in fact trainers!) here ENCOURAGE riding kids (8 - 10 yo) WITHOUT helmet and make fun of them if they do.

It's sad that a family must now suffer the loss of a child over a $100 helmet that could have helped prevent a tragedy.

My prayers go to her family...

1 - She might have been killed even with a helmet. Eventers die wearing helmets when horses fall on them, too.

2 - Anecdotal evidence is NOT the way to determine risk. That is what statistics are for - to determine risk by looking at thousands of cases. And statistically, a jumper wearing a helmet has a much greater risk of head injury than a person riding in a rodeo without.

3 - Those who want to require wear of helmets for the under-18 crown need to ask themselves if all jumping should be banned for the under 18 crowd - because jumping with horses is more dangerous than skipping a helmet.

For example, Jessica Forsyth: "Jessica was found lying about 4 ft outside of the arena fence. It is clear that they flipped over the fence and Boomer landed on her, (barely catching the top of her helmet as her face and rest of her body appeared unharmed) crushing her skull and breaking her neck."

"Rodeo officials said Mathias was riding the horse in a parking lot on her way into the T. Ed Garrison Arena at Clemson University when the horse tripped, threw her off and then fell, crushing the young rider."

12-year-old girl, Lauren McKenzie Mathias, killed at S.C. Rodeo after horse falls and crushes her

"Boseman said: 'She suffered some severe trauma to her chest and head.'"

Twelve-year-old girl dies during rodeo after horse falls on top of her | Mail Online

Yes, it is horrible. And yes, a helmet MAY have helped, and probably would not have hurt. There is a reason I wear a helmet and why I insist my daughter wear one. But banning a practice as unsafe when there are other, larger dangers accepted as normal is a bit off, IMHO. If we really want to improve safety for children, we should ban jumping...