Austrian eventer dies in rotational fall
An Austrian event rider has died in a fall during a training session with her coach.
Irene Dempsey, aged 30, was cross-country schooling with her instructor Harald Siegl at the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt when she fell from her horse, Last Girl Standing on 21 September.
They reportedly suffered a rotational fall and Mrs Dempsey broke her neck. The horse was uninjured.
The pair had competed at the same venue just 10 days before, at the Austrian National CIC** championships (9-11 September).
The Austrian Eventing Federation has set up a fund to support Mrs Dempsey’s seven-year-old daughter, whose father is also dead.
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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.