Rider jumps clear round Burghley as she continues recovery from serious injury: ‘It was a horrible winter; I was extremely depressed’
US competitor Jennie Brannigan shattered her ankle in a start box accident last year and is still feeling the effects now
US rider Jennie Brannigan put in a fast clear round across country at Defender Burghley Horse Trials yesterday – an achievement in anyone’s book, but even more so considering she is still suffering after serious injury last year.
The 39-year-old had a fall at Morven Park the weekend before Maryland 5 Star last autumn, after her ride Kismet flipped over in the start box. She still rode at Maryland with a “shattered ankle” and a bad knee.
“I didn’t break my tibia and fibula like a normal person – I broke some bone that’s crazy hard to break and heals horribly. They told me I might have a limp for the rest of my life,” said Jennie Brannigan after her Burghley cross-country round yesterday.
“It was a horrible winter, to be honest – I was extremely depressed. It was nine weeks non-weight-bearing; I couldn’t use a scooter or anything because my knee was blown out, with fractures in my knee as well. It was just really hard. I’ve broken a lot of bones, but this was the first injury I haven’t been able to come back as fast as I would have liked.
“It’s been a tough, tough thing to be injured and in pain all the time, walking the course. This is the first time walking the course again – at Maryland I golf-carted around, at Kentucky I walked it once and biked the rest.
“I walked this one myself four times, and I’m very lame now. I’m hoping to get the hardware out, because I’ve got screws in my joints – it’d be nice to be able to run one day again.”
Jennie Brannigan at Burghley: ‘He’s truly a six-star horse’
Jennie paid tribute to the 16-year-old FE Lifestyle (Foxy), with whom she has a long-term partnership. The pair have completed nine five-stars, including finishing 12th here at Burghley on their 2023 debut, and were the travelling reserves for the US team for this year’s eventing World Championships in Aachen.
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“He’s such a great horse and I wouldn’t be riding him if I didn’t think I could do a good job. He had a beautiful round at Maryland then at Kentucky I felt a little rusty, but I felt like myself again here,” she said.
“He’s truly a six-star horse. I haven’t had a horse like him before in my career. He has phenomenal scope and his cross-country record is pretty exceptional. He’s only 36% thoroughbred, so he’s probably one of the lowest percentage thoroughbred horses in the field, and he just has a heart of gold.”
Jennie hasn’t been able to trot up her own horses since her injury and top US rider Phillip Dutton, with whom Jennie was based for many years, trotted up FE Lifestyle at Maryland and Kentucky Three-Day Event.
“Here I thought, why don’t I let my groom Isabel Turner trot him up? She’s the one who’s done all the hard work. I think it’s probably the first time a groom’s run a horse up at a five-star and if anyone deserves it, it’s her,” said Jennie after Wednesday’s inspection.
For today’s trot-up, the reins were passed to US high performance manager Leslie Law – the 2004 Olympic champion for Britain – but sadly it wasn’t to be and FE Lifestyle was eliminated at the inspection, putting paid to Jennie’s hopes of a third finish here and a 10th five-star completion with Foxy.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.