Our usual Tuesday Express Schedule show jumping was going quite well at Addington earlier this week until a young horse crashed through Fence 7, obviously in trouble, and then crashed through Fence 8 and came to a halt - totally unable to stand or walk on her rear nearside leg - it looked broken.  We couldn't move the horse at all so a vet was called straight away.

We managed to keep her standing fairly still, but she was obviously in distress and was sweating buckets.  The vet arrived and did a quick exam, but the horse was getting worse all the time.  Her head got lower and lower and eventually she went down.  Within 5 minutes she was dead!  The vet thinks that she ruptured her aorta and so bled to death internally.  The poor rider was inconsolable but it wasn't his fault.  It was just a tragic accident

Anyone who's had their own horse knows what a special bond develops between horse and rider - it's hard to put into words.  It's unlike the bond between a human and any other pet.  Maybe it's because the horse could do us so much harm but chooses not to.  I've seen a horse do serious injury to it's neck when it fell and rolled - in an effort not to roll on its rider.

Four of us held up a screen as the body of the poor animal was removed and all four of us were crying, yet none of us could give a single reason why.  Maybe it's because, in my case, it brought back awful memories of the day I lost my own horse; or perhaps it was a mixture of sorrow at the loss of such a beautiful animal combined with heartfelt sympathy for the rider.  Whatever it was, it affected us all deeply.

I hope I never have to witness such a thing again



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