Ferdi Eilberg kicked in the head and knocked out by horse
International coach and dressage trainer Ferdi Eilberg is recovering after being kicked in the head by a horse.
The father of European dressage medallist Maria and her brother Michael, was knocked unconscious by a kick on 1 July at the family yard in Redditch, Worcestershire.
Maria said: “We all rushed outside to find Dad lying unconscious in the arena with blood coming out of his head.
“He has been extremely lucky, he has one big cut through the side of his cheek, he had stitches on the inside and outside as it is literally a hole.
“We could have lost him and that doesn’t bear thinking about.”
This follows Maria’s fall from a bike at Lingen, Germany on 3 June, where she was to have competed in the CDI on her Grand Prix ride Two Sox.
She fractured her elbow and has been out of action for nearly a month.
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“My elbow has been getting better slowly and I have been riding again this last week.,” said Maria.
“I still have to take it a bit gently but it is very difficult when having to do anything around horses!
“We just have to keep our fingers crossed that nothing else happens. I think we have had our run of mishaps for a while,” she added.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.