Top event rider Bubby Upton has spoken of her first-hand experience of the exceptional work undertaken by the East Anglian Air Ambulance to support its major fundraising appeal for a new base.

Bubby was training at home when she had a “freak riding accident” in August 2023. The horse she was riding reared up and landed on her, leaving Bubby with multiple injuries and no sensation in her right leg.

“I’ve had a fair few falls in my past. I’ve actually broken my back before, but this was a totally different kettle of fish,” said Bubby, in a video shared by East Anglian Air Ambulance. “I was fully conscious throughout the whole thing, I remember using every bit of strength that I had to say, ‘Call the ambulance’.”

The air ambulance’s Anglia Two (Cambridge) helicopter and crew were with Bubby within minutes. The flight time from Cambridge to the scene of her accident was just 16 minutes, and the team were by her side two minutes later, where they worked alongside the land ambulance service to provide critical care.

“The expertise of the medical team that attended me was everything,” Bubby says. “I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I wouldn’t be doing what I am today if it wasn’t for East Anglian Air Ambulance. Supporting them and their appeal for a new base is a no-brainer for me.”

Bubby was given pain relief and fitted to a binder to keep her pelvis still, and in c-spine blocks to keep her neck stable to minimise the risk of further injuries on the journey to hospital.

The air ambulance crew accompanied Bubby by road ambulance to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where she learned that she had a complete burst fracture of her L3 vertebrae as well as fractures to L2 and L4. Bubby underwent seven hours of surgery, regained sensation in her leg and recovered to return to top-level competition the following spring.

The East Anglian Air Ambulance’s Cambridge helicopter is currently based at Cambridge City Airport, which is set to close by 2028. That is why the charity is aiming to raise £8.2m to build a new base near to the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border. It is currently £3.1m away from its target.

Stuart Wyle, director of fundraising and supporters at East Anglian Air Ambulance, said that the charity is “incredibly grateful to our patients and their families – like Bubby – who choose to share their experiences with us”.

“We know that revisiting what can often have been an incredibly difficult and frightening time isn’t always easy, but their stories have such a powerful impact,” said Mr Wyle.

“They help give our appeals real meaning, helping people understand the difference East Anglian Air Ambulance can make when someone is seriously ill or injured, and why continued support for our lifesaving service is so important.

“We are grateful to Bubby, her family and all those who have so far backed the Cambridge air base appeal. We have made huge progress in a very short space of time with our fundraising campaign and are thankful for every donation received.”

To support the appeal, visit: https://www.eaaa.org.uk/cambridge-air-base-appeal

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An event rider who joked that she is a “frequent flyer” with the air ambulance is stepping up her fundraising efforts for those who have saved her three times.

Louise Harwood is organising a Halloween charity ball, to feature live music, fancy dress prizes and a raffle, in aid of the Midlands Air Ambulance charity at Luctonians Rugby Club in Kingsland, Herefordshire, on 30 October.

Louise has stepped back from eventing and turned more to showjumping since she had a bad fall at Blenheim in 2024. She was taken to hospital by land ambulance on that last occasion, but has been supported by the air ambulance on other occasions.

She told H&H she has “gained a few extra air miles” since she was first picked up by the charity’s paramedics in 1999.

“I’m a frequent flyer – it’s not something to brag about!” she said. “Every year since my first rescue by the air ambulance I have vowed to try and do something to say thank you to show my appreciation to this amazing charity and the service they provide.”

The 1999 rescue came after Louise was in a road traffic accident in Herefordshire. She was cut out of her car and flown to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

“I was coming back from Bristol. I think I’d been eventing a friend’s horse and was going home to ride mine – when I should have been going home to revise for my finals – managed to get in a car crash and was flown back to Bristol!” she said. “I was in intensive care and the high-dependency unit for a few days.”

While she was in hospital, and “in complete denial about the open leg fractures, dislocations broken ribs, punctured lung and face and leg lacerations,” the London Marathon was on television, and Louise said she planned to run that the following year in aid of the air ambulance.

“Doctors were saying ‘We don’t know if you’ll ever walk again, ride again’,” she said. “I was quite into running and they said they didn’t think I’d do that again. But if anyone tells me I can’t do something, it’s ‘Come on then’! You could feel sorry for yourself but you’re best to set yourself a target and get better.”

Louise did exactly that; she was riding within weeks, then trained for the race the next year. There were setbacks: “The metalwork in my knee suddenly came out through the skin one day while I was at Solihull Horse Trials, so they had to take that out. Then the plate in my ankle got infected and had to come out,” she said. “It was tricky, but we got there.”

Louise raised £4,500 for the air ambulance then, and £1,000 for Spinal Research.

“You’re so grateful that they pick you up and take you somewhere to get treated properly,” she said. “I’ve always felt that as it’s not funded by the Government, every time you get taken up in the air ambulance, you should do your bit to fundraise to pay back for your little trip, and it would all be self-funded then, wouldn’t it?”

Louise’s second flight was after she was bucked off a young horse at home, in 2015.

“They took me to Hereford hospital that time, so it was only a short flight, but that was a broken pelvis, which really hurt. It was gross,” she said. “So I was very glad to not be bouncing around in a land ambulance.”

Louise has also run quizzes and auctions of promises, as well as cycling 150 miles from Badminton to Burghley with other event riders in 2020, which raised about £12,000.

And in 2024, she needed the charity’s services again, after she was poo-picking at home and fell off her muck trailer while emptying a wheelbarrow.

“How clumsy was that?” She said. “I don’t know what I was doing; eight-foot fall, smashed skull and broken spine. So clumsy!”

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Louise also volunteers for the charity and helps at local events but wanted to do more.

“I wanted to go bigger and better,” she said. “I hadn’t got to as many of the collecting events as I’d like, and I had a mad rush of blood to the head!

“It gets a bit boring in October, end of the eventing season, not much going on. It’s going to be an amazing night; we’ve got prizes for the best outfit, the best dressed table, amazing raffle prizes and a great band and food. Where on earth else do you find an amazing party at this time of year?!

“And we’re all so grateful for the services the air ambulance provides. Just about everyone knows someone who’s been picked up and the rest of us don’t know when we might need it.”

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A rider who broke both legs when her horse was spooked by loose dogs, but was more worried about the horse – and her boots – than herself, has paid tribute to the flying paramedics who came to her rescue.

Anne Wooley has been recovering from her injuries and is riding her 17-year-old gelding Ted again. She told H&H she does not know how she would have been rescued without the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) after her fall on a bridleway in February.

Anne, who celebrates her 71st birthday this month, said it was a beautiful morning and she and Ted had enjoyed a canter in the woods, slowing to pass under some overhanging branches.

“We went round a corner and suddenly there were these loose dogs, and a person appeared,” she said. “Ted was taken by surprise; it all happened so quickly. I remember I was coming off, thinking ‘I’ve got my air vest on, I’ll be fine’. But the air vest went off and poor Ted ran back the way we came. I said to this lad ‘Please catch him’ but by then he was coming back – and I knew by then that I couldn’t move. I couldn’t get up.”

Anne managed to call 999 before she lost phone signal, and the YAA critical care team was sent to her aid; doctor Dave Driver and paramedic Matty McCabe.

“The information we had was limited, just that a lady had fallen from a horse and had potentially fractured her leg,” Dr Driver said. “While en route, we received updates that the location was inaccessible by road, so we also deployed our Topcliffe-based helicopter to the scene.”

Anne had also managed to call her husband Kevan, who met them on the edge of the woods, and they followed Ted’s hoofprints to Anne, who was in severe pain. Dr Driver said that they could not rule out internal bleeding as “injuries like this can be so distracting that patients may not realise there’s something else going on”.

Urgent intervention

Paramedics Chris Gibbins and Tammy Williams arrived by helicopter, and the team stabilised Anne’s condition, including “urgent intervention to protect circulation in her lower limbs”.

She was given gas and air, then ketamine, and her legs were secured in a vacuum splint for the journey to hospital.

“She kept asking if someone was looking after her horse,” Dr Driver said. “That was her main concern at the time.”

Anne was flown to Pinderfields Hospital, where scans showed she had fractured both legs. She underwent surgery to plate her right ankle and pin her left leg from ankle to knee, and spent three weeks in hospital before she was allowed home.

“I was more or less bedridden,” she said. “Luckily, I keep Ted at home so my husband could look after him; I was sitting on the sofa, peering out of the window to see what he was doing! Luckily the weather’s been good, but he’s had to put him out, bring him in, do his rugs and hay – I told him how much hay he had to have, and to steam it, and his supplements!”

By about Easter, Anne was back on the yard, and able to look after thoroughbred/cob Ted, whom she had owned for under a year by the time of the accident, and they have since gradually built up the ridden work.

“This wasn’t going to stop me riding again – I’ve already been back on,” she said.

And she can still ride in her boots.

“I just remember telling the paramedics not to cut off my riding boots and that they have zips,” she said. “Any rider would have said the same, I certainly didn’t want to lose them!

“It was such a shock when I fell. I’d landed in such a remote spot, and all I could think was that no one would find me, especially when I lost phone signal. I was so relieved when I saw the YAA team walking up to me. I can’t thank them enough for how kind and professional they were.

“I’ll be for ever grateful to the YAA for getting me the help I needed. I can’t think how I’d have got out of there without them; the more publicity they can get, the better.”

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Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance (LNAA) is the Defender Burghley Horse Trials official charity of the year for the 2025 event (4 to 7 September).

Burghley event director Martyn Johnson said the Lincolnshire CCI5* is “delighted to be partnering with a vital charity which is so important to the equestrian, farming and wider rural communities, in particular”.

“The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance receives no government or NHS funding and is reliant on donations,” he said.

“LNAA responds to more than four call-outs a day, each costing around £4,000, and needs to raise £13m per year to continue its daily life-saving operations. Defender Burghley is proud to be helping LNAA to reach that figure in 2025.”

Three-time Burghley winner Oliver Townend is a national ambassador for Air Ambulances UK – the charity that supports the work of the UK’s air ambulance charities.

“Air ambulances are such an important resource, not just within our sport, equestrianism in general or the countryside,” said Oliver.

“Everyone faces the possibility of needing the expertise and speed of an air ambulance, whether from a road traffic point of view or as a result of an accident in rural areas, and I look forward to the eventing community supporting the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance this year at Burghley.”

LNAA head of community fundraising Rachel Wilson added that being chosen as Burghley’s charity of the year is “a dream come true for many of us at LNAA”.

“Our crews are often deployed to equestrian-related incidents and have helped many riders who have been involved in accidents in remote, rural areas,” she said.

“It’s such an iconic event in Lincolnshire’s calendar and the excitement is already building here as we plan our activities to support the charity and the event itself.”

D&H signs new partnership deals

Equine nutrition specialists D&H, formerly known as Dodson & Horrell, has signed several new partnership agreements within the sport.

D&H is now official nutrition partner to British Riding Clubs (BRC) as well as the Howden Way’s Thoroughbred Aftercare Programme (TAP), Rider Talent Academy and Young Horse Academy. It is also continuing its existing partnership with Bolesworth.

Justine Parker, programme director for The Howden Way, said that having D&H across all three programmes is a “fantastic partnership for us”.

“I look forward to them working closely with our riders, coaches and support framework across both the TAP and performance frameworks in addition to working on creating content that is specifically relevant to each of the programmes,” she said.

“We will also be delivering webinars specifically focused on feeding the thoroughbred for those that are just at the initial stages of bringing their ex-racehorse home to those that are already further down the riding horse transition stage.”

Maria Haig, head of marketing & communications for The Howden Way, added: “As individuals we have worked with the team at D&H for almost 20 years and they are the perfect nutritional partner for us.

“Their understanding of the thoroughbred and what it needs both whilst in racing and when it steps out of that environment to become a riding horse is second to none and we couldn’t be any more delighted that they chose to partner us. The same is also true in respect of the performance horse and we are fortunate to be able to have access to their extensive knowledge base for the benefit of our programmes. We are thoroughly looking forward to working alongside them and we can’t thank them enough for their enthusiasm and support.”

The BRC partnership means D&H will support BRC members at championships and in other ways. It also means D&H will continue its collaboration with the BHS Scotland working hunter series.

BRC head Rachael Hollely-Thompson said: “We are delighted to be working with such a trusted and knowledgeable brand and look forward to all the expertise they can offer to BRC members.

“There is a huge amount of synergy between BRC and D&H, namely making sure that the horse is at the heart of everything we do. Supporting our members to have happy and healthy horses is a key driver for us both.”

Bolesworth managing director Nina Barbour added that the show is “delighted” to continue the partnership

“Their expertise in equine nutrition aligns perfectly with our commitment to delivering the highest standards of care and competition at Bolesworth,” she said. “Together, we look forward to supporting horse owners and competitors with the best nutritional guidance and solutions available.”

Evoke revealed as Blenheim’s official safety partner

Agria Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, home to the 2025 FEI European Eventing Championships, has announced Evoke as its official safety partner and sponsor of the eventer challenge at this year’s fixture (18 to 21 September).

Evoke will also unveil its new collection of body protectors, back protectors and air jackets on its stand at Blenheim.

“This partnership comes at an incredible time for the company. As we begin to branch out into wider aspects of the equestrian market, to be the official safety partner for one of the most prestigious events in the eventing calendar is a huge milestone for us,” said Evoke founder, David Mitson.

“To be able to offer support to the grassroots levels through our sponsorship of the annual eventer challenge allows us to emphasise our ambition to make affordable safety equipment for all equestrians.”

Event director Katrina Midgley said Evoke “is leading a pathway towards improving safety within our sport”.

“We are proud to support their commitment to stylish, modern and affordable protection, and offer them the well-deserved platform to continue innovating,” she added.

Bedmax to support Scone

Bedmax is the official bedding partner for Scone Palace International Horse Trials (21 to 24 August).

The firm supplied Blair Castle International Horse Trials for many years. The event ran for a final time in 2024 and has been replaced by Scone in the Scottish calendar.

Bedmax managing director Tim Smalley said: “Scotland has always been of great importance to Bedmax, and we are extremely pleased to be involved in what is sure to be the country’s premier equestrian event this year.

“As we already provide the bedding for the stables at Perth racecourse, we have a very strong relationship with the team and are very proud to be working with them to provide the shavings for their stables for this event.”

Scone event director Matthew Taylor said the event is “thrilled” to have Bedmax on board.

“Their products are trusted by top-level equestrian events, and we know that their expertise and dedication to horse welfare will be a great reassurance to the riders and to the horses stabled here at Scone Palace,” he said.

RoR named law firm’s charity of the year

Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) has been selected as Aria Grace Equine Law’s charity partner of the year for 2025

The not-for-profit law firm will donate 5% of its revenue received from 1 January to 31 December 2025 to support RoR’s work in safeguarding the wellbeing of former racehorses.

RoR members will gain access to legal resources, including a webinar (scheduled for late April) on legal topics around buying and selling horses.

RoR managing director David Catlow said: “This collaboration will offer our members much-needed legal support and expertise. We look forward to the upcoming webinars and the positive impact this partnership will have on the RoR community.”

Jodie Seddon, partner and solicitor at Aria Grace Equine Law, added: “I’m delighted to be supporting RoR in 2025.

“At Aria Grace Equine Law, we are dedicated to offering high-quality, accessible legal services to the equestrian community. Through this partnership, we can support RoR’s invaluable work and provide legal guidance to its members, ensuring they receive the best possible advice.”

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A rider who suffered multiple spinal fractures and two collapsed lungs in a cross-country fall said “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, as she returns to eventing.

Olivia Roberts credits the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) for helping save her life after the fall with Fintra CJ (Gary) at Aston-le-Walls last July. She and the then eight-year-old Irish-bred gelding were competing in their second intermediate event, and Olivia said it was the biggest course she had tackled, but that the fence in question was relatively simple.

“I could see where to take off, but he didn’t see that, and I pushed for the stride, and we got into a muddle,” she said.

Gary fell, landing on Olivia, who was knocked out. First responders, including the St John Ambulance, were on the scene but as Olivia’s injuries were severe, the WNAA was called, arriving within 10 minutes. They stabilised Olivia, gave her pain relief, and prepared her for the flight to the hospital.

“I remember coming to, not being able to make a sound, my vision was blurry, and everything felt unreal,” she said. “I don’t remember much of what happened after that, but I felt calm when the air ambulance crew arrived. I knew everything was going to be ok.

“They were so professional, yet kind, and I felt at ease. I was in the most vulnerable state of my life, and they made me feel safe.”

Olivia was airlifted to University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire, where her injuries were assessed.

“Olivia had fractured seven ribs, punctured her left lung, which had collapsed along with her right lung, and suffered multiple fractures to her spine and wrist,” a WNAA spokesperson said. “There were internal injuries as well, including damage to her lower back muscles and nerves, as well as an internal bleed affecting her neck. Miraculously, Olivia needed no surgery, and it was here that her recovery journey began.”

Olivia, who had never broken a bone before the fall, said it “felt like being hit by a bus”. She was kept in hospital for a few days but told her recovery would take time.

“They told me I might never get full use of my wrist again, and I wasn’t sure how I’d recover mentally,” she said. “I had a lot of goals. I was lungeing Gary and doing bits and pieces. It gave me purpose every day.

“Mentally, I felt the struggle at times, like I’d lost my confidence. But I kept telling myself, ‘You’re strong, you can do this’.”

Olivia started jumping after a few months, and spent the winter training and rebuilding her confidence. She and Gary were back out at Oasby on 6 March, finishing 11th in the novice section.

“I always knew about [the air ambulance], and I had a friend who was airlifted in the past,” she said. “I’ve supported them before, but I can’t believe how much they helped me. They were calm, collected, and brought that level of pre-hospital emergency care.

“It’s so important that we have people like them when we need them the most.”

The WNAA spokesperson said Olivia’s situation could have been far worse but thanks to the crew’s response, she is well on the road to recovery.

Olivia added: “I’d love to do a fundraiser for them. They were incredible.

“I’m alive, and I’m determined to keep going. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

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Many horse riders receive vital urgent care from their local air ambulance every year after suffering a serious injury that has occurred in a remote location while riding or caring for their horses. But if you were faced with an incoming air ambulance, would you know what to do?

To mark Air Ambulance Week (9–15 September 2024), which calls on people all over the UK to help support their local air ambulance charity, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity advanced clinical practitioner in critical care, Vicki Brown, and pilot, Richard MacLaughlin, share their expert advice on what to do when an air ambulance is going to land in a location with horses nearby.

By following these simple tips you can keep yourself and your horses safe, as well as giving confidence to the crew that they can get to the patient as quickly as possible and attend to their immediate care.

1. When you call the emergency services, give the 999 call handler as accurate a location as possible. Use What3Words if you have GPS.

2. While waiting for the air ambulance to arrive, stay with the injured person if it is safe to do so and keep them warm if they’re still on the ground. Use whatever you have to hand, such as clothing, horse rugs and tarpaulins.

3. When the air ambulance comes in to land, the pilot and crew will look for a landing site as near to the patient as possible that has no obstacles or hazards. A big field with no horses or livestock either in it or adjacent to it is ideal.

4. Horses spook easily and can be unpredictable. If horses and animals can be moved inside, please do so.

5. Please don’t stand in a field where you want the air ambulance to land, because it won’t be able to – the pilot will need to find another suitable landing site. If you cannot vacate the field, please move to the edges.

6. Outdoor arenas are not always suitable to land in as they can be full of loose objects such as jumps, poles and sometimes the patient. The helicopter creates a strong downwash and the arena’s surface can blow up, as well as sending loose objects flying.

7. No horses should be ridden in the vicinity. Please dismount and hold your horse if you are unable to vacate the area.

8. If a rider comes across an incident unrelated to them or their yard (for example, a road traffic collision), hand the situation over to someone else if possible so you can leave the scene with your horse. If no one else is around to help, hi viz will help keep you safe and make it easier for the air ambulance and emergency services to locate you. In this situation, please tell the emergency services that there are horses nearby.

9. When the air ambulance lands, it will need time to shut down. Please don’t approach the helicopter until the blades have stopped turning and the pilot has left the aircraft. It is better to wait for the crew to come to you.

10. When you see the helicopter preparing for take-off, please follow the same tips as for landing. When the patient is boarded onto the helicopter, a smooth and fast departure is essential to ensure the patient is taken to hospital as quickly as possible.

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A rider who ruptured two discs and dislocated her elbow in a rotational fall has sung the praises of the air ambulance that came to her rescue.

This week (9-15 September) is Air Ambulance Week, dedicated to fundraising for and raising awareness of the service, which gets no Government funding. Each mission costs over £4,100.

Air ambulances across the country fly to the rescue of many riders every year, including Jo Dunn, who fell during an arena cross-country lesson with her horse Maggie, filmed by her mother.

“The lesson was going well, and Mum was filming Maggie and I flying over a variety of jumps and combinations of 90cm and more,” Jo said.

“About halfway through the lesson we jumped a table and Maggie caught the jump with a leg, causing the jump to rotate and get caught in her legs. We had a rotational fall, which is every rider’s worst nightmare, and Maggie somersaulted and landed on her side, on top of me. Mum stopped filming and she and my instructor ran over to us. Those watching thought Maggie had broken her neck, but miraculously she got to her feet. I was knocked out.”

Jo said her mother, a retired nurse, stayed with her while the trainer called 999.

“The [Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, HIOWAA] doctor and paramedic worked with the ground medics to stabilise me before deciding how I should be taken to hospital,” she said.

“In the end, I was taken to University Hospital Southampton via land ambulance, because getting me to the air ambulance meant carrying me across the fields surrounding the area where I had fallen. The team was concerned that I was already very cold, having been on the ground for an hour.”

Jo praised the “phenomenal” NHS; she spent 11 days in hospital with delayed concussion, a dislocated elbow and two ruptured discs.

After months of physio, she regained full movement, and 14 months after her fall, she ran her first marathon – six days later, she completed her second.

“I’m back riding and competing in dressage,” she said. “Maggie had a few months of field rest as I was recovering; during this time she received physio treatment alongside her veterinary treatment. She was given a full clean bill of health and I was able to start bringing her back into work. I am thankful that neither Maggie nor I sustained life-changing injuries.

“I owe a huge thank you to the air ambulance critical care team, and all the NHS staff for fixing me up. Since first witnessing the HIOWAA critical care team help a horse rider after an accident about 10 years ago, my parents and I have often bought charity lottery tickets and we donate regularly as well. As a family, I think we’ve donated over £3,000 over the years and I hope that our contribution will help to keep the air ambulance flying and saving more lives.”

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The message of Air Ambulance Week 2024 is “today’s supporter, tomorrow’s lifesaver”.

“Anyone, anywhere in the UK can become a patient at any time,” a spokesperson for Air Ambulances UK said. “The message reminds us that by becoming a supporter today, you can help save lives tomorrow. Throughout Air Ambulance Week, we highlight the stories of those whose lives have been impacted by dedicated critical care medics, who bring the hospital to the patient at the scene.

“The campaign also highlights how air ambulance charities need your support to continue to deliver advanced pre-hospital care to people with a sudden life-threatening injury or illness, helping to save lives and improve patient outcomes. By supporting air ambulance charities you will truly be making a difference to someone’s life.”

The charity’s CEO Simmy Akhtar added that the message is an “important reminder of the impact each of us can make”.

“Every day, air ambulance charities are collectively dispatched to over 126 lifesaving missions and each mission is funded almost entirely by the generosity of our local communities,” he said. “As we celebrate Air Ambulance Week 2024, we recognise the invaluable impact of the dedicated teams who bring pre-hospital emergency care to patients in their most vulnerable moments. Through your generosity, air ambulance charities continue to save lives and improve patient outcomes across the UK.”

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A rider who was paralysed in a cross-country accident has become a fundraiser for the air ambulance that saved her life – and has returned to the saddle.

Sallyanne Haigh suffered a spinal-cord injury when her horse reared and fell on her in October 2015 and now has no movement below her first lumbar vertebrae.

“It was a horrific accident, and a long road to recovery, but I’m getting my life back together,” Sallyanne told H&H.

Sally was at a local rally in 2015, and cross-country schooling, when she had her fall.

“There was a bit of a hill up to the jump and my horse refused the first time,” she said. “I came again and she went up, and because it was uphill, she went straight back on top of me.

“She crushed me, and I knew things weren’t great.”

As a nurse, Sallyanne said it was “a bit surreal to be on the other side”.

“I wasn’t knocked out but the pain – I’ve never known anything like it,” she said. “The ambulance was called but they couldn’t access me in the field so the crew carried all their stuff to assess me and by then it was clear there was a complication as I couldn’t feel or move my legs. Then they called the air ambulance.”

It was the Great Western Air Ambulance that went to Sallyanne’s aid and saved her life.

“When they arrived, it sort of calmed the situation,” she said. “There were two doctors; Ed Valentine and Greg Crastone. Greg was training to be an air ambulance doctor so I was very lucky to have an extra pair of hands.”

Sallyanne was transferred to Southmead Hospital, Bristol, where her injuries were confirmed.

“I had a 10-hour operation to fix the vertebrae but with the spinal-cord damage, there’s nothing you can do,” she said.

“But how the air ambulance was – I was completely conscious and as a nurse, was telling them what I needed and they were probably thinking ‘Shut up’! But as a rider, it was very much appreciated that they were able to attend; I was very lucky they could get to me.”

Sallyanne spent seven months in hospital; in Southmead then a rehab unit in Salisbury.

“Then you go home and pick up the pieces and get on with your life, which is really difficult when you’re completely paralysed from the waist down and living your life in a wheelchair,” she said. “But us equestrians are pretty mad, aren’t we – after 18 months, I was back on a horse.”

Sallyanne said she approached her local Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) branch but as her consultant had said riding would be a risk, the group was limited in what it could do for her.

“I’ve always had horses; my daughter has too, and that’s what you do, the majority of your life,” she said. “I was missing it, so I took it upon myself to improve my physical health.”

Sallyanne started going to the gym, then her friend and instructor Beth Hobbs said her horse Flynn would be suitable. Fundraising meant they could buy a hoist, with which Flynn was trained.

“That took a while but by that time, I’d seen a private consultant who wrote me a letter saying equestrian exercise is beneficial, and when the RDA had that, I started to be able to ride there too,” Sallyanne said, adding that she has since been classified by British Dressage as a grade II para rider.

“I did a couple of little competitions, for me and my self-esteem, I think it was something I wanted to prove,” she said. “Everyone says ‘I hope you’re not going to ride again’, and being told not to do something makes me think ‘I’m not going to listen to that’! It was a long road but I love being back in the saddle.”

The Covid lockdowns put a spanner in the works, and Flynn developed a back issue that meant Sallyanne could not ride him but she found Ride 2 Achieve RDA in Hereford, where she has since been riding.

“I won’t be at the Paralympics; it’s not about that,” she said. “It’s being able to enjoy the therapy, and what it does for my mental health, being in the saddle. It’s something I’m enjoying, and who knows where it might lead. It’s just lovely to be supported back into the saddle in such a supportive environment.”

Sallyanne also works four days a week, and for the past few years has also been involved with and fundraising for the air ambulance. She was invited to the base to meet the doctors who had saved her, which she described as an emotional experience but also one that the doctors said was helpful as she was conscious throughout her rescue.

“They wanted to know if I was comfortable; how they could improve, which is phenomenal,” Sallyanne said. “At the time of my accident, they were volunteers, although now they’re on the payroll, and as far as I was concerned, they were flying angels.

“I think they said every time the air ambulance takes off, it costs £2,000 before they’ve done anything. I’m happy to help them out because they’re so important, especially for equestrians.

“Things happen and we take risks and having them attend to me was life-changing. I can’t thank them enough.”You might also be interested in:

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The mother of a young rider whose legacy will help other aspiring eventers achieve their dreams believes he would be delighted to see what is being done in his memory.

The Archie Foundation was set up to support young riders and horses, as well as the air ambulance that tried so hard to save Archie Lowe but was unsuccessful.

Archie, a promising rider who had competed in dressage and showjumping, but mainly eventing including pony trials and representing the southwest region, died in a rotational fall in September 2020, aged 21.

Archie’s mother Patty told H&H Archie had always loved “everyone and everything”, but riding and horses the most. He and Manni, who Archie “believed could be the best pony in the world”, started eventing, taking on pony trials and junior team trials.

“Everyone used to call Manni the cow, because he was piebald,” Patty said. “Archie was never fazed when things didn’t go quite as planned and always delighted with the result – no matter what it was, although it was usually extraordinarily good. ‘I’m here to show how wonderful my pony is, Mum, not to win’.”

Just before he took his A levels, and while he was trialling for a junior British team place, Archie’s horse Mack had a rotational fall and Archie broke his arm and shoulder. The gap year’s eventing he had planned was cancelled and he instead went to the University of Bristol to study maths and economics. After he graduated, he decided to take his delayed gap year, continuing at the racing yard at which he had worked weekends during his course, riding, spending time with family and friends.

The coroner found no one was to blame for the “inexplicable accident” on 8 September.

“It’s the worst pain one can ever experience,” Patty said.

“It wakes you up every morning. There isn’t a moment of waking up and orientating. It’s there the very second waking consciousness emerges. It’s in your dreams. It’s all consuming – it devours every long moment of the day and rears its head throughout the night.

“At 9:04am on 8 September 2020, my world ended. Everything I knew and loved about life was blown apart by the PTSD image which will always reside firmly in my head.”

Family friends persuaded Patty to publish a cookery book (reviewed here by H&H), of the recipes Archie had inspired and she had created over the past 15 years. Archie was also an accomplished photographer, who had taken pictures of the finished dishes, published on the Dorset Kitchen website. The 1,000 copies printed sold in under six weeks, and another 1,000 have just been produced. Money raised will be split between the air ambulance, and a bursary for young riders.

Patty explained that William Fox-Pitt and Sam Griffiths, both friends of the family, approached the family to see what they could do, and the training scheme was born. The beneficiaries of the Archie & Manni bursary will have a year’s training with William, Sam and Sarah Bullen.

Patty said the idea is to carry the scheme on every year, for young male riders who have a special bond with their horses.

“William said boys can have trouble as they’re ‘supposed’ to be playing rugby or football and there aren’t many eventing; it’s seen as a girls’ sport,” she said. “It never bothered Archie but I know he was slightly bullied at school for it, and people I’ve spoken to have said how nice it is to give the boys some help, and someone to look up to.

“What we really want is a partnership. We’ve also done something with the Pony Club, a trophy for his branch, and rather than reward the child who wins everything on an expensive pony, we want to help people who are putting their all into it, like Archie did, but without necessarily the funding they need.”

Patty said seven boys have been chosen for the first year of the scheme, and she hopes as well as the training, they will benefit from building a relationship and camaraderie with like-minded riders.

“I think Archie would be thrilled by this,” she said. “The last event we did was West Wilts and when we were finishing up, a woman came over. She said she’d never met Archie but she was really nervous before the cross-country. She said ‘You talked to me and said it’s all about having a good time; go and enjoy yourself and spending time with your horse’. She said ‘You’ve changed my life’, and that’s kind of how people saw him. He was really loved, and he loved everyone.”

The cookery book is available from A Dorset Kitchen, and other fundraising events including a dog-walk are planned to fund the foundation.

William told H&H: “Archie was a young man who caught my eye from a very early age. He used to come and visit the yard and his knowledge and enthusiasm was infectious. He stayed in touch growing up and developed into the most wonderful, empathetic and talented rider.

“His tragic fall was beyond belief and I am so thrilled to be able to support Patty and the family in any way I can and keep the memory of this exceptional young man at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

“The Archie Lowe bursary will hopefully give a like-minded talented boy a great opportunity of support from Sarah Bullen, Sorrel Warwick, Patty and Archie’s family and the team at Wood Lane Stables.

“I am really looking forward to working with everyone to develop the bursary moving forward.”

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A former eventer who completed Badminton 52 years ago and survived horrific injuries in a 2016 fall is to run her second London Marathon this weekend at the age of 71.

Shena Kozuba-Kozubska, who said she does “not do running”, is taking on the challenge on Sunday (3 October) 30 years after her last marathon, which raised £6,000 for the Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund.

She told H&H she supported the charity as it had supported her after a bad fall at West Wilts.

“Afterwards, I said ‘never again’, but here I am!” she said.

“I had no idea how fast I should go; I did say I wouldn’t let a horse go across country unless it had done the time it had to do, so about three weeks beforehand, I ran the 26 miles, but then I had to go to Jersey to teach and couldn’t run there as it’s so narrow. So I did no training for the last two weeks but I managed. I finished in four hours, and was rather pleased with that.”

Shena, who completed Badminton aged 18 in 1969 on Lord and Lady Hugh Russell’s Irish-bred eight-year-old mare Flamingo, said she “wrote to everyone to sponsor me” for that first run.

“I remember John Oaksey and Brough Scott; one said ‘For God’s sake, make sure you train enough’, and the other said ‘For God’s sake, don’t over-train’, which I thought was marvellous,” she said.

“I did think ‘Never again’, because it was ridiculous. I went to my sister’s afterwards and had a lovely Famous Grouse and American ginger, then the next day I had to move 200 bales of hay. As you do.”

Shena went back to riding and teaching, and five years ago, had a horse in to train.

“I knew he’d been somewhere a bit dreadful to be sold and they couldn’t sell him, so I said ‘Bring him here, he’ll be fine’,” she said. “I rode him down the village and the last thing I remember is letting a car go past. A month later, I woke up in intensive care.”

Shena still does not know what caused the fall, in which she fractured her back, crushed ribs into her left lung, broke her breastbone, shoulder and wrist. She also now only has one functioning kidney as a result.

“It was a bit disastrous really,” she said. “The whole of my left side was crushed, from back to front, and I’ve got one kidney that’s just sitting there, as dead as a dodo.

“I don’t ride any more, I couldn’t put my family through it as that was terrible for them, and as I am, I wouldn’t be able to ride; I hope I used to ride well but I couldn’t like that now.

“I’m pretty smashed up, so then you’ll ask why I’m doing the marathon!”

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Shena explained that without the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, she would not have survived the fall.

“As soon as I came out of hospital, I said ‘I’m going to run the London Marathon for you’, and they all laughed,” she said. “I’ve tried for the last three years and kept getting balloted out, because I wanted to run for three charities, rather than just one. Luckily, this year, I got in through the ballot.”

Shena will split her money raised between the air ambulance, which she hopes will also raise awareness of the service’s vital work, especially for riders, Horatio’s Garden, which builds gardens at NHS spinal injury centres, and the Motor Neurone Disease Association, as she lost her sister to the devastating disease a year before her fall.

“I’m very lucky,” she said. “I’m not going to do it in four hours this time, I can tell you that! I’m going to totter, not really run, but the other day I tottered 20 miles in five hours. That was a killer because the stones on the canal were terrible, so I’m actually looking forward to the marathon as surely that will be better!”

Shena said she would be delighted to equal her 1991 £6,000 fundraising total again; she has already raised over £3,000 on her Virgin Money page.

“It’ll probably take me six or seven hours this time,” she said. “I’m in no hurry.”

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A rider who is still recovering from serious injuries sustained in a fall a year ago is raising vital funds for the air ambulance that came to her aid.

In September 2020 Joanne Clough fell from her mare Juno while competing in a showjumping competition at Ardnacashel Equestrian Centre in Comber, Northern Ireland. Joanne was warming up when Juno spooked and began bucking “uncontrollably”. As Joanne fell she hit her head on a brick wall.

“I have no memory of the event and apparently lost consciousness. Having spoken to others, I know the show was stopped and the organisers along with first aiders on site came to my side and called for an ambulance.

“Everyone was really supportive and helpful to ensure myself, Juno, my helper and my seven-year-old daughter Erin were looked after.”

The helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) team, which is provided by charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland (NI) in partnership with the North Ireland Ambulance Service, arrived and took Joanne to Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast by air ambulance.

Joanne, who had surgery to remove a brain tumour in August 2018, underwent tests for potential brain injuries. She sustained three fractures to her cheek, damaged the iris of her right eye resulting in blurred vision and has suffered short-term memory loss owing to severe concussion.

“The scars and fractures on my face have healed, along with the fatigue, weakness and confusion, but my balance remains something that I am continuing investigations for, as my eyesight remains imperfect,” she said, adding Juno has since had treatment for a sacroiliac joint injury, which is suspected to have caused the mare’s reaction on the day of the fall.

“I am slowly gaining trust and confidence again in the saddle. There are no words to describe the gratitude I feel for the assistance of the air ambulance team that day. Had they not acted so quickly, treated me with such level-headed efficiency and taken me to the hospital so swiftly, I have no idea how I might have ended up.”

Joanne has now launched the Horse Powered Take Off campaign and prize draw competition to raise funds and awareness for Air Ambulance NI. The competition aims to raise £40,000, the amount it costs to fund the air ambulance, equipment and medical team for one week. Tickets for the prize draw cost £10 and prizes include £1,000 cash prize, a hotel stay, an equine solarium, and vouchers for riding lessons and equestrian retailers. The draw will take place on 30 October. Visit: https://dragoncompetitions.com/product/horse-powered-take-off/

“A head injury cannot be underestimated and to have been saved from potential disaster by the medical team in this way, is a miraculous success. Thank you so much to the air ambulance team – they are amazing,” said Joanne.

Grace Williams, Air Ambulance NI area fundraising manager, said the charity is “so inspired” Joanne has made a great recovery.

“Patients are at the centre of everything we do. We are humbled Joanne has decided to support the wonderful work of Air Ambulance NI through her competition and campaign. As a service we rely heavily on charitable donations to keep the medical team in the air, delivering critical care to patients who have suffered trauma throughout Northern Ireland – without this type of support, the team simply couldn’t fly,” she said.

“The past year has been especially challenging for fundraising and we’ve seen a dramatic downturn in our income. We sincerely thank Joanne for her amazing support. Despite the pandemic our HEMS team is as busy as ever, responding to on average two calls daily. Since we launched in July 2017, Air Ambulance NI have been tasked on more than 2,388 occasions.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A rider who suffered multiple fractures and severe concussion in a fall at home wants to spread as much awareness as possible, of head injuries and the importance of wearing a correctly fitted safety helmet.

Sandra Murphy was jumping her own horse Tilly over small fences on 17 July when the mare tripped and went down. Sandra suffered a fractured shoulder, collarbone and vertebrae, as well as the head injury, but believes that had she not been wearing her helmet, recently fitted and brand new, she would not be here.

The founder of Equidiet and the BAME Equine and Rural Activities Focus Group told H&H she had just finished filming for a television programme and was jumping one last double.

“It was only 70cm, as I’m no hero!” she said. “Tilly jumped in big, and it should have been two strides but she went ‘Is it one or two?’, went to jump and just fell over it.

“It was a miscommunication; I can’t blame her, I more blame myself.”

Sandra hit her head on the floor, was knocked unconscious, and was taken to hospital in an air ambulance. She credits her assistant Lara Holden also for saving her life, as she came straight over with an oxygen canister after the fall; Sandra, who is in remission from cancer, also spent six weeks in hospital with Covid early this year and needs the oxygen while her lungs recover.

“She saved my life as I’d stopped breathing,” Sandra said.

Doctors at first did not realise the extent of Sandra’s injuries and sent her home but two days later, she was in agony and called her GP.

“They sent me back to hospital, where I was diagnosed with the fractures and the concussion,” she said. “I was speaking really slowly, and couldn’t form words; I said to the doctor, it felt like I had a blancmange in my head, it was awful. I had real pressure pain in my head and he said ‘That’s concussion’.”

Sandra had never suffered concussion before, and had not realised the full implications.

“The doctor explained it all, and how careful you’ve got to be,” she said. “It’s a brain injury, and you have to look after your brain. I won’t be riding for a long time as you only get one head.”

Sandra added that although she has always been a strong advocate of wearing appropriate headgear, this incident has reminded her once again just how important this is.

“Whatever you’re doing, I don’t care; wear one,” she said. “There’s no excuse not to have one on, and your brain’s so precious and so easily damaged. My Uvex helmet saved my life; I would not be here today without it.

“The thing I want to get across to people is, no matter what you’re doing, wear one. I was at home, jumping 70cm, and I trust my horse to the end of the earth; she’d never buck me off or anything but she tripped and fell, it was one of those things.”

Sandra also thanked the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, for which she had raised money while undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, two years ago.

“I had braids in my hair; my hair was my crowning glory and losing it was very hard but every time a braid came out, someone sponsored it and I raised £500,” she said. “That’s what got me through, and knowing I was helping other horse people.

“When you’re riding in the middle of nowhere and a road ambulance can’t get there, they will come and rescue you. I want to thank them so much.”

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Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Ten years on from the accident that put her in a coma, polo player Vanessa Whiteley has spoken about her experience, to help support the Thames Valley Air Ambulance crew that saved her life.

The rider, who comes from a dynasty of polo players and eventers, was 17 when her mare Kite landed on her in a freak accident during a match at Kirtlington in August 2011.

She faced several years overcoming the emotional, psychological and physical impacts of her fall — which she may not have survived without urgent intervention.

“It was the final of a weekend tournament, which was on bank holiday Monday,” Vanessa told H&H. “We’d come out of the lineout [where the ball gets thrown back into play after a goal] and we were cantering off away from everyone else, not going very fast, when Kite caught her back legs with another horse, tripped and fell down. Because we were going quite slowly I wasn’t flung out of the way, so she landed on me.”

Vanessa’s feet were still in the stirrups and her hands still around the reins, while the mare was on top of her struggling to get back up, and she was kicked several times. Her helmet also came off as she fell, and her head hit the floor.

“I don’t remember what happened at that point but one of the players on my team was an anaesthetist, and she jumped off her horse and rushed over, as did another, who had been working in intensive care at John Radcliffe [Hospital] — they both knew quite a lot about trauma and phoned an ambulance.

“The event’s paramedic also rushed over in her car. My mum asked her ‘is she dying?’ and the lady said ‘I’m not really sure’.”

Once the road ambulance arrived, the decision was made to send for an air ambulance, as Vanessa had suffered serious head and chest injuries.

On arrival, the helicopter crew established that she required an emergency chest drain, as she was “drowning in her own blood”, and needed to be taken to the John Radcliffe, in Oxford. The procedure was performed and Vanessa was transferred to intensive care, where she had to be intubated and put into an induced coma.

Vanessa recalled that when she briefly regained consciousness on the first day, before being put back under, the first thing she did was talk about her horse.

“I said I couldn’t hold Kite and that I felt her falling but couldn’t do anything about it — then within a couple of hours I was unconscious again,” she said.

“Horses do so much for us, it was an awful thing to happen [but] I knew she would really have tried her hardest not to fall down,” she said.

Vanessa was in intensive care for a total of nine days, and was able to return home after 10.

“I remember very well when they had to take the intubation tube out,” she said. “You have to cough and it was extremely painful to cough because of my broken ribs. It felt like the bristle-side of a hairbrush coming out and they told me I needed to cough harder and I didn’t think I could do it, it was very claustrophobic.”

She also recalled her first walk around the ward on day seven.

“I was a 17-year-old with a zimmer frame, in a gown with a bare bottom and DVT socks!” she said. “I’d gone from being a fit and healthy 17-year-old a week earlier to barely wanting to sit up.”

Vanessa faced several battles in her recovery but had not initially lost her nerve when it came to riding — although it became clear her balance was an issue.

“I wore a body protector for a whole year riding and hunting after my fall, as I kept getting unseated. I basically never fell off before the accident, so the shock of coming off so often, as well as having had a terrible accident that was maybe my fault, started to make me think that maybe riding horses shouldn’t be my hobby,” she said.

She benefited from having experienced support around her — her father, Puff Whiteley, has played polo since his Pony Club days (her grandfather, Timothy Whiteley, also played and hunted), while her paternal grandmother Jane Whiteley (formerly Drummond-Hay, sister to Anneli) was second at Badminton and has multiple dressage accolades.

“I didn’t really make a conscious decision to keep riding, I just kept getting on. My dad kept saying ‘do you want to go riding?’ and I kept saying ‘yes’.” she said.

Vanessa’s bigger battle in her recovery was with the impact the accident had on her, at such a formative stage of her life.

“I had this awful depression but I didn’t know it at the time, I found it really hard getting up in the morning,” she said. “As a teenager you’re expected to have a lot of energy and a smile on your face and engage in extra activities and I had an awful few years, when I’d just keep cancelling on people — it took me a while to get out of that zone.

“I found it difficult to get out of the house and put clothes and make-up on and present myself to strangers, I just wanted to stay inside with the dogs. Then a year after the accident I was telling people about it very early on when we met, I would thread it into any conversation. People do say it’s toxic to let a terrible trauma define you. A lot of the insecurities I already had surfaced and had an extra impact and I had an excuse that I was using as a crutch — I would almost say ‘I can’t see you tonight because I had an accident a few years ago’.”

Vanessa’s accident happened between her first and second year of A-levels but she continued on to university, initially studying French and Spanish at Oxford Brooks, and going on to study psychology and Spanish at Buckingham.

She played her first polo match at Rugby a year after her fall — which she describes as a “momentous day” — and organised her first fundraising day for Thames Valley Air Ambulance at Kirklington Polo Club in 2013.

“I’ve been involved with the air ambulance ever since,” she said. “My mum arranged for me to visit the crew that airlifted me six weeks after I came out of hospital and I have done a lot of fundraisers since.”

She also spent some time after she graduated working in logistics at Kidlington, where the air ambulance is stationed, ordering parts for helicopters.

“I had a wonderful year working there and it’s where I met my now fiance,” said Vanessa, who also recently started a new job as a teacher. “It was wonderful being part of the team that put the air ambulances back in the sky. It was really meaningful for me.”

Vanessa is the face of the year’s Thames Valley Air Ambulance summer raffle, which is raising funds to keep the service going. Air ambulances have no state funding and run entirely on donations.

They are a life-saving service for riders and Thames Valley’s crews have delivered critical care to 99 equestrians since 2018.

Horse-related incidents can lead to life-changing injuries requiring urgent intervention — and for these injured riders, the pain relief and procedures that Thames Valley Air Ambulance crews offer over and above a regular ambulance can make all the difference.

Summer is a peak time for accidents, with a quarter of all equestrian incidents happening between May and June.

Thames Valley Air Ambulance senior critical care paramedic Richard Company said: “Equestrian emergencies can mean extra hurdles for our crews to overcome. With the sheer weight of the horse and the fact that riders are often travelling at speed, we are likely to encounter severe injuries and shock. For incidents where spectators have witnessed the event, it can be very traumatic for bystanders too.

“The advanced drugs and kit that our expert crews carry mean we give patients the best possible chance of survival and recovery. Whether it is sedation, pain relief or performing an intervention then and there – we bring the hospital to the horse rider.”

To support Thames Valley Air Ambulance’s summer raffle, visit the service’s website.

Para rider survives dislocated knee, lost sight and broken skin to complete epic 51-mile trek

‘I was in agony’: Rider who broke back raises funds for air ambulance

‘I’m so grateful to the air ambulance – I don’t know what we would have done without them’

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A para rider who suffers frequent dislocations and periods of blindness and paralysis has completed an epic 51-mile trek across Dartmoor to raise funds for the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust.

Grade IV para rider Kirstie McPherson, who has connective tissue disorder Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS) and neurological disorder generalised dystonia, completed the three-day trek on Monday (19 July) with two friends.

She told H&H she rode a mile and a half with a dislocated knee on day one — having to bite on her water bottle as it was put back in as “I didn’t want to scream in front of the others” — and lost the sight in one eye on the second day owing to a hemiplegic migraine.

She suffered an allergic reaction to the tape used on her relocated knee, bruised her eye when she hit it on a door she could not see on the second night, and her fragile skin broke in “areas you can’t imagine”.

“But it was 100% worth it,” she said.

“Those were probably the worst bits of the ride, but the biggest down side was coming home; we’re already planning the next one.”

It had been doubtful a week before the ride whether Kirstie would be able to go; her loan mare Mimi “had an argument with a tree” during a ride in the woods, thinking she and her rider could fit under a branch that was too low, and Kirstie came off backwards.

She hit her head and lost her sight temporarily but after eight and a half hours in hospital, was allowed home.

“All I could think was ‘oh my god, they’re not going to let me go on my ride’,” said Kirstie.

“I burst into tears and one of the nurses said ‘I bet it’s really scary’, and I said ‘No, I don’t want to miss my ride!’ I’ve spent four months training for this and I didn’t want to let everyone down.”

Kirstie’s determination meant she, coach Emily Lyndon and endurance rider Vicky Bartlett set out as planned, leaving early on Saturday morning and finishing on Monday afternoon.

“It was magical,” Kirstie said. “The views, the friendships made, the gallops, and Mimi was absolutely amazing, she didn’t put a foot wrong.

Continues below…

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“People keep saying it was my charity ride but it wasn’t; I couldn’t have done it without Vicky planning it and being amazing, the support of Emily and her parents, Vicky’s husband and sons being our support crew. It was a team effort.

Donate to Kirstie’s page

“And Mimi blew me away. I loved her from the moment I saw her but the confidence I’ve built with her on this ride is amazing. She showed me her beautiful heart over and over again, and as a para rider, the most important thing is to have that bond. She blew me away.”

Kirstie is planning a longer ride next summer, to raise funds for the Devon and Cornwall air ambulances.

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A rider whose medical conditions means she suffers frequent dislocations, twisting limbs and periods of blindness and paralysis is planning a 50-mile fundraising ride across Dartmoor.

Grade IV para rider Kirstie McPherson has connective tissue disorder Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS) and neurological disorder generalised dystonia. She also suffers with hemiplegic migraines.

This July, Covid restrictions permitting, she will ride her recently backed loan horse Mimosa on the trek, which is expected to take three days, in aid of the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust. She has aleady raised more than £1,100 on her fundraising page.

Mother of six Kirstie told H&H she was only diagnosed with the dystonia six years ago, but this did not fully explain her varied symptoms.

“Then one day, I was standing there talking to a client and my leg fell out,” she said. “It shot out and went backwards; great impression to give a client!”

With no idea what had happened, Kirstie was taken to hospital.

“It took 30 minutes for the ambulance to get there and the pain was excruciating,” she said.

“The funniest moment was when I opened my eyes and someone said ‘You can stop screaming now’!”

As doctors tried to find out what had caused such a severe hip dislocation, they were also unsure whether Kirstie would walk again.

She cites her “superhero”surgeon as the driving force behind her recovery, but the incident also led finally to her EDS diagnosis.

“I was very lucky while I was in hospital,” Kirstie said. “I felt life was a bit rubbish, and thought ‘What if I can’t walk again?’ and more importantly, would I be able to ride? It makes my doctor laugh that I always say not ‘Can I walk’ but ‘Can I ride my horse?’”

The Rio Paralympics were also on television while Kirstie was in hospital.

“There was one rider who had no pelvis,” she said. “She was amazing, and I thought if she can do it, I’ve got absolutely no excuse. Watching her was a great inspiration.”

Kirstie contacted multiple para dressage medallist Lee Pearson to thank him also for inspiring her, and he replied, and eventually travelled to Cornwall to teach her.

Kirstie had to learn to ride again, without the use of her left leg. A few years, she undertook a 13-mile sponsored ride to buy a defibrillator for her local Riding for the Disabled Association centre, for which she was a trustee.

“Two hours in, both my knees dislocated but not being a defeatist, and knowing the reason I was there, I finished,” she said. “My husband had to lift me off my horse and my kids relocated my knees as my husband sorted my horse. I made around £900 that day and the Lions Club, hearing my achievement, paid the rest so the centre got its defibrillator. I think they were worried about me dislocating anything else!”

The memory of that gruelling ride means Kirstie knows how hard this summer’s ride will be, but she is determined to raise money for the air ambulance, from which she and friends have benefited in the past.

She will be riding her “beautiful giraffe” Mimosa, on loan from Mandy Edwards, whom she went to view as her mare Connie had had an injury, and Kirstie wanted to compete in dressage, which Connie did not like.

Continues below…

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She had not expected to take on a 16hh unbacked youngster, but when she first met “Mimi”, “she put her head down, looked into my eyes and I thought ‘I love you’. And that was that.”

Kirstie said she is “slightly nervous” but looking forward to the ride, which she hopes will highlight the work of the Para Equestrian Foundation and promote para endurance, as well as raising as much money as possible.

“I look to set challenges for myself every day,” she added. “I think it’s a good way of life; life’s not what you can’t do, it’s what you can do that matters.

“Life is a challenge, and you can sit on your backside and think it’s horrible, and yes it can be, but it’s what you make it. You can find something positive in every day, if you look hard enough.”

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An international showjumper is shaving her head to raise funds for the air ambulance that came to her aid 18 years ago when she broke her back in a rotational fall.

Former eventer Vicky Laing fell during the cross-country phase of an intermediate class at Milton Keynes in June 2002 and had to be airlifted to hospital.

“It was a crashing fall. I broke my back, smashed my pelvis to pieces and suffered internal injuries,” Vicky told H&H.

“I remember the air ambulance crew were fantastic. They are so skilled and you knew you were in very good hands.”

Vicky underwent surgery on her pelvis and spent nine months on crutches after the accident. She returned to eventing the following year and went on to ride at Burghley in 2005 and 2007, before turning to showjumping.

Since the accident Vicky has been keen to raise awareness of the work of the air ambulance and now plans to shave her head on 3 September. She hopes to raise £3,000 to be split between the Air Ambulance Service and the Matt Hampson Foundation, a charity founded by former rugby player Matt Hampson who was paralysed in a training session in 2005. The charity aims to support those who have been seriously injured in sporting accidents.

“I’ve been threatening to shave my head for years and now I’m going to do it. I’ve always donated to charity and I really wanted to do this for charities that are close to my heart,” said Vicky, who is also donating her cut hair to the Little Princess Trust, a charity that uses real hair to make wigs for children with cancer.

“I have very thick blonde hair, it’s like a lion’s mane! I know I’ll cry when it comes off. I plan to livestream it so people can see it taking place.”

Article continued below… 

Rider survives serious brain injury to raise vital funds for air ambulance

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Vicky said the air ambulance is “invaluable” and she would like to see more publicity for the charity.

“My accident wasn’t life-threatening – but it could have been. An air ambulance can get to areas that you perhaps can’t access by vehicle and get you to hospital quicker,” she said.

“Not everyone realises the air ambulance isn’t government funded and relies on donations so they can be forgotten about until someone needs one.”

Donations can be made at Vicky’s Just Giving pages; Air Ambulance Service and Matt Hampson Foundation.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

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By Frances McKim and Catherine Austen

What do you do when coronavirus movement restrictions prevent you from handing over a large cheque in person? You enlist the help of an eight-week-old litter of hound puppies, of course.

Subscribers of the Quorn hunt had planned in March to present the cheque, for £1,200, to representatives of the Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance, but the plan was scuppered by Covid-19.

Undeterred, joint hunt secretary Nicola Housley hatched an alternative plan, to commission the puppies for the job. With the cheque written out, the Quorn’s huntsman, Ollie Finnegan, who lives at the kennels, had the task of helping Nicola, and persuading the pups to pose.

“This was no easy task,” said Nicola.

“Anyone who has had anything to do with puppies is well aware of their sense of adventure. The pups certainly thought this was all good fun and had other ideas of exploring the vicinity, rather than sitting around looking sweet.

“After several attempts we managed to persuade enough of them to surround the cheque, rather than sitting on it or simply running over it.”

Continues below…

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The money was raised by members of the Quorn tumblers’ club. Anyone who fell off, without being hurt, during the 2019/20 season had to put £5 in the pot, and the total was topped up by a fundraising game held at a dinner on 7 March in Melton Mowbray.

The winner of the dubious Tumblers’ award, a cut-glass whisky tumbler, was Ross Bentley from East Leake, who is recorded to have dismounted involuntarily four times out hunting on a Quorn Monday.

In a letter of thanks for the donation, the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance said: “On average our crew attend five rescue missions per day and we do not receive any government funding. This means that without the support of people like you, we simply could not do the life-saving work that we do. We are lifted into the air by your generosity.”

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A rider who fractured her back in a fall is raising funds for the air ambulance that came to her aid.

Equine artist Rachel Drury was riding with friend Kate Elkington in Frith woods, Ledbury, on 22 March when the horses were spooked by a pheasant and Rachel fell off.

Rachel, who was riding Kate’s daughter’s 15.2hh gelding Loui, told H&H: “We were having a lovely ride and the horses had been as good as gold. Kate was in front and a pheasant flew underneath Loui and I went out the side, landing on my back.

“I couldn’t get up and we were in the middle of nowhere. I could move my arms and legs so I thought I must be ok but I was in agony.”

Kate called an ambulance, and took the horses back to the yard, but the crew could not find Rachel in the woods.

“Kate dropped off the horses and ran back to me. I was still lying on the ground freezing and I was in agony, ” said Rachel. “Eventually the ambulance crew found me but they couldn’t get me down to the road by stretcher and had to call for an air ambulance.”

The Midlands Air Ambulance helicopter was able to land in a nearby field and Rachel was taken to hospital.

“I had an X-ray and four doctors gathered round and told me I had a compression fracture of one of my lumbar vertebrae. I’m really lucky it wasn’t my spinal cord,” said Rachel.

“I’ve been fitted with a brace I have to wear for six weeks and then I will need to go and see a specialist.”

Rachel has started a fundraiser on Facebook for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.

“I’m so grateful to the air ambulance – I don’t know what we would have done without them.” said Rachel.

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“The air ambulance isn’t government funded and they need to raise £9 million every year to help people. I had never really thought about the reality of needing the air ambulance until it happened, my daughter rides too and it’s reassuring to know they are there.”

Rachel hopes to get back to work and plans to return to the saddle once she has recovered.

“It will be a while until I’m painting because you need to stand up for a long time and it takes a lot of energy concentrating. I’ll definitely be back riding when I can – I can’t wait,” she said.

Rachel’s fundraiser for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity

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A stud owner whose daughter was treated by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight air Ambulance is running a fundraiser with a difference.

Gerda Weston, of Weston Warmbloods, is selling £10 tickets to a raffle, the winner of which will get a stud fee waived on any of her stallions this season.

The idea came about as she wanted to help the organisation that came to her daughter’s rescue some years ago.

Gerda told H&H her daughter Anna Beck, who now works with her and rides at the stud, was involved in an accident on a horse she took on on loan.

“Anna didn’t have a horse at the time – we’d put all our good mares in foal – and was bored so she got this horse on loan who she’d been told was perfect,” Gerda said.

“She got on it and straight away, I said: ‘Anna, get off now’. I’d never seen a horse look like that before.

“Its eyes rolled backwards in its head, it reared up and threw itself on top of her. It finally got to its feet but its legs buckled and it went back down on her again. I thought she was dead.”

Anna, who was knocked unconscious, suffered a broken pelvis, ribs and collarbone, but not her back as her mother had feared.

“It was horrific,” Gerda said. “But the air ambulance saved her. They’re so crucial to us as riders, and I think some people don’t realise they’re charities that don’t get government funding.”

She and Anna, thinking recently about ways to raise money, came up with the idea of Anna’s riding a 24-hour marathon on the school, on different horses.

Continues below…

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“But I said people have done things like that; we wanted to get people’s attention,” Gerda said, adding that the semen prize was the next idea.

“It’s given people a giggle – it definitely made the man from the air ambulance laugh!” she said.

Entrants need to email their details to studfeeraffle@gmail.com, to get information on how to pay. The winner, who will be able to choose between Cornets Pleasure, Zip Phin, Big Star offspring C Star and Kantairo, will be drawn on 7 April.

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A rider who survived a serious brain injury is raising money for the air ambulance which “saved her life”.

Naomi Dobson, 47, a former joint-master of the Ludlow, fell from her eventer Lawrence while jumping at home in September 2015 and spent two weeks in a coma.

Naomi told H&H: “I don’t remember anything about the fall or the three weeks after the accident. I was told I was jumping a double, Lawrence knocked the fence and took it with him, I came off and he fell on top of me. My groom, Lou Burns, was there and thought I was dead.

“Lou called 999 and an air ambulance came. When it got there they found I had a collapsed lung. Another air ambulance with a trauma unit came and they had to put a drain into my lung and then flew me to hospital.”

Naomi was diagnosed with a diffuse axonal brain injury but said “amazingly” she didn’t suffer any broken bones.

“They tried to wake me up from the coma but couldn’t; I had a score of three [on the Glasgow Coma Scale] which is as low as it can get without being dead,” said Naomi.

“I spent a month at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingam and then another month at Central England Rehabilitation Unit in Leamington Spa. My first memory is when my dogs were brought in to see me and I remember being pushed in a wheelchair outside.”

Naomi was released from hospital in November 2015 and she started riding again in January 2016.

“I’ve always been so active and spent my life hunting and eventing. I got on my horse Henry who I’ve owned for 16 years, since he was four – he’s the most amazing horse and we’ve been through a lot together. I had to be led round and have someone on each side of me to start with,” said Naomi.

Naomi started hunting again the following Christmas but says she only jumps smaller fences due to the lasting effects of the brain injury.

“I get exhausted very quickly, and struggle with balance. Every morning I get brain fog which starts five minutes after I wake up and gets worse through the day. Three years on I’m still not back to how I was and don’t think I ever will be. Talking to people can be really tiring because of the concentration I need to get words out especially if I don’t know someone,” said Naomi.

“I would have gone berserk if I couldn’t ride – it’s my life. Because I have no recollection of the accident there is no fear factor but I am very protective of my head.”

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Naomi is taking part in the Saving Lives Challenge on 28 November to raise funds for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and will cycle a bike for two hours. The challenge is a five-day fundraiser from 26 November to 30 November where participants will cycle static bikes or run on a treadmill around the clock in the main atrium at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

“The hospital and air ambulance saved my life. If it hadn’t been for the air ambulance I wouldn’t have been able to get to hospital so quickly and the Queen Elizabeth staff were amazing,” said Naomi. “I thought the challenge is something I can specifically do, I can’t run or cycle a normal bike but I can ride a static bike. The hardest part of the challenge will be my energy levels; every day I need to go to bed in the afternoon for an hour and a half from exhaustion.

“The air ambulance have no funding and rely on donations. I’m determined after this I want to carry on fundraising for them – they provide such an important service and we rely on them.”

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday.

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A rider who was told she might not walk again after her horse fell on top of her is raising awareness and funds for the air ambulance service that came to her aid.

Jo Dunn, 32, from Hampshire, had a rotational fall on her 17-year-old cob Maggie during an arena cross-country lesson in February 2017.

Jo told H&H: “We were preparing for a Hickstead arena event in the April and I had planned to sell Maggie afterwards so she could have a quieter life. Maggie was jumping really well but we fell at an 80cm jump. The jump got caught between her legs, which caused Maggie to fall and she landed on top of me.

“An ambulance first responder came really quick, followed by a land ambulance and an air ambulance. They wanted to take me by air but [the helicopter] had to land three fields away because of the horses that were in the fields and they would have had to carry me over gates and ditches, so they had to take me in the land ambulance with the doctor from the air ambulance in attendance.

“I had damage to my back, a head injury and a dislocated elbow. Originally the doctors thought I was going be paralysed or have brain damage but as the hours went on the prognosis got better and better.”

Jo spent the next 11 days in hospital and three months recovering at her parents’ house.

“My helmet saved my life,” said Jo. “I think landing on a soft sand and fibre arena helped – if it had been hard ground, it probably would have been a different outcome.

“It was in doubt if I would ride again, I was devastated. Two discs in my back fully ruptured so I have three vertebrae that sit on top of each other, and they thought they may have to operate and put rods into my back, if they had done that I probably wouldn’t have ridden again.

“I’m only a hobby rider but it is a huge part of my life. I’ve got ADHD and I find riding calms me and helps me focus so it’s not just my physical health, it has a huge impact on my mental health.”

After the accident Jo had physio three times a week until September 2017.

“I was told I would only get 40% movement back in my elbow, but I had a very good team of physios and I did my exercises religiously and I’ve been very lucky to get more movement back,” she said.

“I had a sit on a friend’s pony seven weeks after the accident and fully returned to riding after 11 weeks. I don’t remember the accident, or the days beforehand because my head injury was quite significant,” she said. “I just think you can’t be scared of something you don’t remember. Horses have been such a vital part of my recovery for both my physical and mental health; if that wasn’t in my life my life would be very different. I’m not prepared to let that go.”

Jo brought Maggie back to full fitness and sold her to a Pony Club home and now has a 16.2hh gelding, Chuck, on loan.

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This year Jo has started fundraising for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, running three marathons and a 30-mile ultra-marathon with another marathon and ultra-marathon planned before the end of the year.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jo-dunn7

“The doctors had said they weren’t sure I would walk again, let alone run. I want to raise awareness that the air ambulance is not government funded and they are such a vital service, especially for the equine community,” said Jo.

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A former three-star event rider is raising funds for the charity that helped her after a crashing fall.

Yorkshire-based Natasha Al-Egaily was injured when her horse reared and fell on top of her while schooling at home.

“There was no one around at the time so I rang emergency services,” she told H&H. “The next thing I knew there was an air ambulance and a paramedic in a car.

“Fortunately I was able to be assessed by the paramedic so the air ambulance wasn’t needed.”

Natasha escaped serious injury, but broke several ribs and suffered bruising to her hips.

“I was very lucky really,” she said.

Natasha made a full recovery and was able to return to the saddle, but has since shelved her ridden career to focus on a new job in mental health.

She has wanted to give something back to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance since her fall and decided that running London Marathon would be the perfect way to show her appreciation for the charity.

“I only recently realised they were self-funded,” she said. “I was one of the lucky ones but I’ve seen the air ambulance out working at events — so many people do need it and it’s life or death.”

This will be Natasha’s first marathon, although she has previously completed an Iron Man race, which includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run.

“With Iron Man I was just trying to complete the run, this time I want to do it in under four hours,” she said, adding that the bad weather so far this year has made training “a struggle”.

Continued below…

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Natasha has been fitting her training round her job and caring for her daughter, Zivah.

“I got into the marathon last year by ballot, but I was eight months’ pregnant by the time it came round,” she said.

“I have a special running pram and I take my daughter with me on the shorter runs.”

The London Marathon take place on Sunday (22 April) and Natasha has set herself a £500 fundraising target. She can be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/natasha-al

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An air ambulance will be based at Cheltenham racecourse for all four days of the festival next week.

This is the first time an air ambulance has been based at the racecourse during the Cheltenham Festival (13 to 16 March).

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s H135 helicopter will be on hand to provide prompt support for emergencies.

Jason Levy, fundraising and marketing director for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said the Jockey Club and Cheltenham racecourse have been “terrific supporters” for many years.

“As an emergency pre-hospital service, we take the welfare of jockeys and horse riders very seriously, and on average airlift a horse rider every four days,” said Mr Levy.

“The fact we will be operational from the Cheltenham Festival this year is testament to this relationship, and represents an excellent opportunity to showcase what we do to festival goers.”

A team from the charity will also be based at the north entrance, where there will be a helicopter simulator pod as well as information on the work it does.

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity has three air ambulance helicopters, each of which carry two flight paramedics or a flight paramedic and a doctor, plus a pilot.

The service attends an average of six call outs a day and covers six counties: Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands.

Simon Claisse, of the Jockey Club, said he is delighted they are able to work with the charity during this year’s festival.

“The service they provide both to us and the wider equestrian community is second to none,” he added.

“To have a dedicated helicopter position on site over the four days ensures, when necessary, that a patient can be transferred to a trauma hospital without delay.”

The charity recently took delivery of a new upgraded air ambulance helicopter.

The £7 million H145 Airbus helicopter joined the fleet on 26 February and is housed at charity’s RAF Cosford airbase in Shropshire.

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It was unveiled by the charity’s chairman Brendan Connor with the help of ambassadors multiple Paralympic medallist Sir Lee Pearson, Only Fools and Horses star John Challis and former England rugby captain Neil Back.

It can travel greater distances than the other two helicopters without needing to stop and refuel and the larger interior means more medics and supplies can be carried on board.

“Excellent pre-hospital patient care is at the heart of everything we do,” said Mr Connor.

“To support our mission, build resilience, and strengthen the long-term sustainability of the charity, we made the strategic decision to invest a proportion of donations into a larger, upgraded H145 model.

“The new airframe will enable us to reduce our operating costs and complements our plans to further improve pre-hospital care in the region.”

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A rider has thanked the “amazing” air ambulance crew who came to her aid after a nasty fall.

Sammy Smith was knocked unconscious in a fall in a remote part of the Scottish countryside near Fife on Saturday (2 December). Her horse, 15.2hh part-bred Irish draft Donald, was uninjured.

Realising Sammy was seriously hurt, her friends called the emergency services and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) arrived within minutes.

The pilot managed to land on a narrow path between two wire fences, which would have been difficult to access by road.

Sammy told H&H the helicopter arrived within minutes of the call.

“When I got to hospital the pilot and two of the paramedics stayed with me the whole time,” said Sammy, adding they spoke with medics and managed to save her long riding boots from the scissors.

“They said that if I was going to recognise anyone, it would be the person I saw first and for the longest.

“[They were] just amazing.”

Sammy was diagnosed with concussion and was kept in Ninewells Hospital for eight hours for observation and is now recovering at home.

She said she realises “how lucky” she was not to have been more seriously injured.

“I have a few cuts to my face, but they are healing,” she added.

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The meeting was particularly special for H&H blogger Suzanna Hext

The 23-year-old publicly thanked the crew on Facebook to raise awareness of the work they do.

“I’m lucky because I can speak for myself, but sometime people aren’t as lucky as me,” she said.

“I know there have been 70 donations [to the charity] since my fall on Saturday. The power of social media is incredible.”

She added she will also be setting up a monthly direct debit to the SCAA to support the work it does do and thank the service for rescuing her.

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A rider who shattered her pelvis has returned to thank the air ambulance “heroes” who saved her life.

Gina Exley was hacking out on her homebred mare, Sapphires Magic, in December 2015 when the accident happened.

The pair were 10 minutes from home when the mare is believed to have slipped.

Gina has no memory of the accident nor the 15-minute 999 call she made on her mobile phone.

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) took Gina to James Cook University Hospital and she underwent major surgery to pin her pelvis.

The first thing she remembers is being in hospital after the operation and seeing her family.

The mare was not seriously injured.

“When I came back from hospital I was in a wheelchair and I went into the barn to see her,” Gina told H&H.

“She put her head over my shoulder and pulled me to her as if to say ‘you’re here’.

“I could almost see the relief on her face.”

She added that she has been told a man was walking his dog nearby when she had the accident and went over to help, but the mare would not let him near Gina.

“I bred her out of my favourite mare and she is very special,” said Gina, who has competed the 16.3hh mare by Yorkies Midnight Corner up to British Eventing novice level.

“People say they are just animals, but there is definitely more to them than that.”

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Gina has two screws holding the back of her hips together, which crossover at the base of her spine.

After several months in a wheelchair, she was able to walk again and was back in the saddle by July 2016.

“I assume that my horse slipped and she landed on me, but I’ll never know for sure what happened that day,” she said.

“I wish I could remember being in the helicopter as I would have loved seeing the views.”

Last month, she visited GNAAS’ Durham Tees Valley base to meet and thank the crew who saved her life.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “It was so nice to be able to say ‘thank you’.

“They are a bunch of unsung heroes — they are a charity and they need proper support as they save lives.

“Being able to see the guys who saved my life was incredible.

“They just came across as ordinary people, but the work they do is so amazing.”

GNAAS aircrew doctor Phil Godfrey said: “I remember clearly what happened that day — Gina had suffered a serious pelvic injury, so we took her to hospital as fast as we could.

“It’s good to see her back on her feet and learn that she’s riding horses again.”

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A rider who was paralysed from the chest down in a fall has launched a campaign to raise £100,000 for charity.

Tara Stewart fell from her horse while riding near her home in Stearsby, near Helmsley, in July 2014.

She landed on her head and the impact broke her neck.

“I heard my neck snap and was instantly paralysed from the chest down,” said Ms Stewart, who endured a five-hour wait on the ground before a passing rider spotted her horse and called the emergency services.

“I was a couple of fields away from home and there was no road nearby and so my horse actually saved my life by staying with me.

“Stranded as I was in the middle of nowhere, it was impossible to get an ambulance to me and I knew, from the moment I hit the ground, that the only way to get me out would be by helicopter.”

Ms Stewart was taken by air ambulance to trauma specialists at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Following an eight-hour operation to rebuild and stabilise her neck and two weeks in a medical coma, Ms Stewart spent a month in high dependency before being transferred to Pinderfields spinal unit in Wakefield where she remained for a further six months of physiotherapy and rehabilitation.

It was in hospital that Ms Stewart and her artist father David Howell came up with an idea to raise money.

Mr Howell has exhibited throughout the world. His work focuses on landscape and marine subjects, but he is also well known for his equestrian racing pictures.

He and Ms Stewart decided to create an original racehorse oil with limited edition prints to raise £100,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) and charity Spinal Research.

The painting is called ‘A Dirty Day at Duncombe Park’ and each print is one of a limited edition of 750, numbered and signed by Mr Howell.

Framed prints are £275 and unframed £150 with the proceeds being split between the YAA and Spinal Research.

Greeting cards are also available, in packs of 10 for £12.75.

“My entire focus is on raising money,” said Ms Stewart. “I am passionate about supporting the amazing work of YAA. They are my local air ambulance and no one ever knows when they might need their services.

“As a tetraplegic, paralysed from the chest down, I also believe very passionately in the work of Spinal Research to fund a cure into spinal cord injury. I have a first-hand understanding of the absolute devastation to a life an injury like this can cause.

“Getting out of bed alone takes two hours. I used to be incredibly impatient but I’m having to adjust to the fact that life now moves at a different pace.

“But, I am confident that we are very close to finding a cure for spinal injuries. Previously considered medically impossible, the last few years have seen some big breakthroughs in this area and more money is needed to keep pushing the frontiers of science.”

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Ms Stewart has also recently bought an event horse to allow her to remain involved in her passion.

She is now the co-owner of a horse by Mill Law with Angela Shipley.

The Shipley family has also been training Ms Stewart on a mechanical horse, with ambitions of one day getting her on the real thing again.

Abby McClymont, director of marketing and communications at YAA, added: “Tara has been through a life-changing few years since her accident and she really is an inspiration to us all with her grit and determination.

“We are so grateful to both Tara and her father for choosing to support us through the sale of these beautiful prints. It’s a wonderful way for them to be able to raise vital funds and showcase David’s fantastic work at the same time.”

For more information and to buy cards or prints please visit www.buckinghorses.co.uk

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A rider has returned to meet the air ambulance crew who saved her life after her horse stood on her neck.

Melanie Rogers fell from her mare Bonnie last July while asking her to walk through a river near Tudhoe in County Durham.

In her haste to get away Bonnie stood on Mrs Rogers’ neck, dissecting one of her carotid arteries — one of the major blood vessels that supplies blood to the brain, neck and face.

This injury is more common in road accidents and can lead to stroke, as it did in Mrs Rogers’ case.

“I remember going down the bank, I remember coming off and I remember Bonnie standing on me,” she said.

“I was trying to stand up, saying I was going to be all right in a minute, then I can’t remember much at all.”

The 57-year-old quickly became confused, lost control of her body and her speech became slurred.

Her daughter Anouska Rogers-Smith, a 26-year-old veterinary nurse who was there at the time, said it was “horrendous”.

“We didn’t realise at first just how serious it was, but when the helicopter arrived and the doctor and paramedic rushed over, I thought it must be bad,” she said.

“She kept saying she was 28 years old. The doctor suddenly said she was deteriorating and all of a sudden they were off.

“They were amazing — calm and reassuring, they just dealt with everything so professionally.

“They saved our mum’s life and we are eternally grateful.”

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The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) flew Mrs Rogers to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesborough, which took just seven minutes.

She was given emergency treatment at the hospital and spend two days on the high-dependency ward.

Since then she has worked to rebuild her physical strength, her speech and her relationship with Bonnie.

Last week, Mrs Rogers and visited Durham Tees Valley Airport, the base of the GNAAS which flew to her aid last year.

She was joined on the visit by Anouska and her other daughter Kasha Rogers-Smith. They met the crew of the charity’s helicopter and were shown around.

Kasha will run this year’s Great North Run to raise money for GNAAS, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.

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Essex-based hunting and showing enthusiast Rob Walker, 49, is in a critical but stable condition in the Royal London Hospital after sustaining serious spinal injuries in a rotational fall while out hunting.

The accident happened on Wednesday (18 January) when the horse he was riding – the former champion working hunter, Orbital – hit concealed wire in the top part of a hedge, somersaulted and landed heavily on Rob.

The Herts and Essex air ambulance was quickly on the scene and airlifted Rob to hospital, where he was temporarily placed in an induced coma. The horse was uninjured.

Originally from Worcestershire, Rob is also a popular figure on the showing circuit. He bred and formerly owned the successful hunter Bournebrook Golden Law, still the only horse to have won the ladies class at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) three times, standing supreme there in 2005.

Latterly, with his fiancée Olivia Greig and her daughters, Harriet and Grace Chittenden, Rob has concentrated on hunting and often acts as amateur whip to the Essex Hunt. He is also a regular with the Essex Farmers and Union Hunt, and has taken part in inter-hunt team relay competitions.

“The love and support for Rob have been tremendous,” said Olivia. “We are both so very grateful for all the good wishes and practical help we have received.

“This journey will not be easy, but we will get through it.”

A justgiving page – with a “target” of £2,000 – set up by family friend Clare Tredgett to help Olivia with immediate costs and day-to-day expenses raised more than £8,100 in the first nine days.

“I’m incredibly grateful to Clare for setting up the fund – it means we can concentrate on Rob getting better and having him home with us,” added Olivia. “I am also extremely grateful to the air ambulance – if it hadn’t arrived when it did, I doubt Rob would still be alive.”

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H&H blogger and para dressage rider Suzanna Hext has had an influential meeting with the men who helped save her life after a serious fall.

Suzanna was competing at two-star level eventing before she had a riding accident at home in 2012 that changed her life.

After months in hospital and nine operations she was able to swap her wheelchair for crutches and returned to the saddle.

Since then she has taken up para dressage with great success and was long-listed for the Rio Paralympics.

Last week (20 January), Suzanna was reunited with paramedic Richard Miller and head of operations Kevin Reed at the Wiltshire Air Ambulance base.

“It was really nice to get to know the people that rescued me — it’s the final piece of the jigsaw,” she told H&H.

“If they hadn’t saved me the situation could have been very different.

“I don’t feel like I can say thank you enough — no words will really express how grateful I am.”

Charity ambassador

The meeting was particularly special as Suzanna was asked to become an ambassador for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

“It’s a huge honour,” said Suzanna, who had already been volunteering for the charity.

“It’s good to raise the profile of Wilshire Air Ambulance and the air ambulance service in general.

“I think people underestimate the fact that they are funded purely by donations.

“As part of my role I will be helping Wiltshire raise £1.25 million for another base, which means they will be able to reach all parts of the county within 11 minutes.”

Suzanna’s fall in 2012 was the second time she had been saved by the air ambulance.

When she was 13 she fell at a Pony Club event, broke her pelvis and was airlifted to hospital.

“For me now that feels like a distant memory, but at the time it felt like the end of the world,” said Suzanna.

“Now I have a bit more perspective on life — seeing people in hospital who have had accidents going through what they go through makes you realise how lucky you are.

“Life is too short to sweat the small stuff.”

Suzanna now has rides on Abira (pictured) and Ljt Enggaards Solitaire and is aiming for the Europeans in August.

“It all seems to have happened so quickly — it’s only two and a half years since I first got back riding after my accident.

“Being long-listed for Rio was just mental. I couldn’t have done it without Pammy Hutton and Talland and my support team.”

‘Fantastic role model’

Kevin, who was serving police officer at the time of the accident, spoke of Suzanna’s visit.

“It’s always nice to meet patients that you have been involved in the treatment and care of and we were all delighted to hear Suzanna’s amazing news,” he told H&H.

“She’s such a fantastic role model and it’s quite incredible what she has achieved since her accident.

“She has great personal strength and determination.

“She refers to us [himself, Richard and pilot George Lawrence] as being ‘her heroes’, but we were purely doing our job on the day. What she has achieved is truly inspirational and heroic as far as we are concerned.

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“We have asked her if she would be prepared to be an ambassador for our charity and we are very honoured that she has accepted.

“Her involvement comes at a really important time for us as we have only just launched our major fundraising campaign for the new airbase.

“We wish her well with her goal to be selected to compete at the 2020 Paralympics.”

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A day’s hunting on Burghley winner Lenamore contributed to the Warwickshire Hunt raising a total of £5,000 for the air ambulance.

American Theresa Sanders secured the top lot with a telephone bid from the USA of £1,100. She flew over at the beginning of December and hunted the 23-year-old grey, who has been a regular with the Warwickshire with owner Lexi Jackson since he retired from eventing.

Theresa said: “I had the most fabulous time out on my fairytale ride with Lenamore. The entire day was magical.

“Immediately upon getting into the saddle, I was able to tell that he’s one in a million. His way of going, collection, breathtaking trot and beautiful gallop clearly showed why he is an adored, true Olympian. 

“I feel so very fortunate to have had this experience and will always remember, partly with disbelief that it actually happened. What an amazing day — dreams really do come true! Thank you to Lexi and the Jackson family for making ‘Ed’ available for this amazing experience.”

Theresa decided to bid on the day on Lenamore, who represented New Zealand at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics under Caroline Powell, winning team bronze at the latter, after recovering from a broken ankle that left her out of the saddle for more than two months.

She said: “While feeling frustrated and miserable that I wasn’t able to ride, I saw the H&H piece about the auction and knew immediately I was going to go for it. I had followed Lenamore’s career over the years and could not believe that I might have the chance to ride this amazing horse. I really needed something to look forward to and thought to myself, ‘I’m going to do this!’”

Theresa describes herself as a “passionate foxhunter” and has been a member of the Shakerag hunt in Georgia, USA.

She stayed with Lexi Jackson and her husband Henry.

Lexi said: “She was charming, and we had a lovely day’s hunting. Theresa rode Ed beautifully and both horse and rider had a great time and even jumped some hedges.”

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Carrie Tucker, chairman of the hunt’s auction of promises committee, and hunt chairman Sam Butler presented the £5,000 cheque to Jo Payne of the Warwickshire Air Ambulance at a meet at Honington Hall.

Jo said: “I am delighted to accept the very generous donation made by Warwickshire Hunt, who have supported the charity since its inception in 2003. The hunt members understand that because we are entirely funded by donations, this essential life-saving service is vital to the rural community.”

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The stars of a veterinary practice’s naked charity calendar got their clothes off one more time to present the proceeds to the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

Mike Sheldon and Andy Hayes, equine partners at Towcester and Onley Equine Vets, selected the charity after Mike had to be airlifted with a head injury following a hunting fall eight years ago.

Their 2016 calendar raised £4,561.06 for the air ambulance and they made a trip to Coventry airfield to present the crew with the cheque.

“I think they were quite excited to be getting their clothes off again,” said the practice’s receptionist and marketing manager Abii Dowdy. “I went with them to do the hand over and it was horrendous weather, right in the middle of storm Angus. I was soaked and freezing and there they were naked apart from their boots.

“We had to get all sorts of permission for them to take their clothes off in the middle of Coventry Airfield. They wanted the crew to join in as well, but they were too cold!”

The one-off calendar was shot by Towcester-based photographer James Rudd and featured various members of the practice including vets, reception staff and nurses.

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“We’re based on a farm here, so even the farmers and farriers joined in,” Abii added. “We’ve had a lot of funny comments from clients in the past year, saying ‘you’ll have to come here naked next time, it will make paying my pill less painful!’”

As each air ambulance mission costs around £1700 to fly, Abii said the practice were pleased to know they could potentially have saved two to three lives.

“Needing the air ambulance one day is one of those things you do think about when you spend time with horses,” she added.

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A rider who broke her back while out hacking has praised the quick response from the emergency services.

Clare Andrews was out for a short ride with a friend on 7 August near Ely, Cambs, when the pair came across some combine harvesters that had been parked in a field.

Her friend’s horse spooked, falling into a ditch, and after checking her friend was not injured, the horse was caught, with some bystanders’ help.

“At this point I thought everything had calmed down,” she told H&H.

As they prepared to walk the 20 minutes back to the yard, Clare put her leg on to ask her horse, Galaxy, to walk forwards.

However, unsettled by the commotion, Galaxy reared and Clare fell off the back.

“I have loaned him six years and never known him rear,” added Clare.

She said she instantly knew something was wrong.

As her friend called 999, the bystanders came to help with the horses and to keep Clare calm.

A first responder was the first person to arrive and initially assessed Clare — who was conscious throughout — and gave her pain relief, closely followed by the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA).

The doctor and paramedic from the air ambulance also assessed Clare and decided she could be taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge by road.

An x-ray showed Clare had a compression fracture of her L1 vertebra and after five nights in hospital and an operation to stabilise it with metal screws, she was allowed home, where she is recovering.

Clare has now praised the quick response of the emergency services and is encouraging riders to support their local air ambulance.

“I was really surprised at how quickly the first responder arrived and the helicopter was not far behind,” said Clare.

“To know that the helicopter is available, to me is invaluable.

“We are on the fens and the ground gets very heavy. Most of the riding we do is on tracks rather than the road.

“At another time of year, [the land ambulance] would not have been able to pick me up.”

Her post on social media thanking the EAAA has since gone viral.

EAAA consultant Dr Ed Gold told H&H: “When patients get in touch to say that they have recovered well, it’s undoubtedly one of the most rewarding parts of our job.

“It’s always especially wonderful to meet patients when they visit the base.

“Over the years I have seen how helpful it can be for patients to meet the crew that treated them.

“Often patients remember very little of what happened to them, and so meeting clinicians and actually seeing the helicopter can help them come to terms with what happened to them.”

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Two riders are taking on a daring hunting challenge to raise funds for Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.

Georgie Wagstaffe and Sophie Cripps will be riding bareback with the Pytchley Hunt on 5 March armed with strong neck straps.

The pair plan to change horses at the same time as field-master Will Spencer and their second mounts will be wearing saddles.

“The Air Ambulance service is absolutely invaluable and we both felt we wanted to do something in aid of the fantastic work they do,” Sophie told H&H.

“We wanted to do something a bit different – so, why not go hunting bareback?

“We will both try our hardest to keep our horses between us and the ground throughout the morning. We might be having strong words with Will if he has not changed horses by 2pm.”

Sophie and Georgie will be riding their two “old-timers” — Apollo, a 14-year-old Irish sport horse and Henley, a 15-year-old Irish draught cross thoroughbred.

“Henley is a wonderful bold hunter who loves his job,” said Sophie. “Apollo is also a fantastic hunter who is incredibly bold, however, he does have his moments!”

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Georgie and Sophie have been practising riding bareback at home and plan to have a jump in a manege without saddles in preparation.

“Georgie has an old shoulder injury from a fall she had team chasing last year so is reluctant to do any more damage,” added Sophie.

“We have both managed to avoid paying £5 to the Pytchley Tumblers Club so far this season.”

For more information visit: https://www.justgiving.com/georgieandsophie

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British event rider Louise Harwood has broken her pelvis in a fall.

Herefordshire-based Louise was riding a youngster at home yesterday (8 December) when the accident happened.

She was taken to Hereford Hospital by air ambulance where x-rays showed she had broken her pelvis in two places.

“I was riding a three-year-old who had been a complete star until then,” she told H&H.

“For some reason he bucked and then spooked and bucked again. He then swerved when he decided jumping out over the rails wasn’t such a good plan and lost me in the process.

“I didn’t think it was that bad [the injury] so waited half an hour before calling emergency services. In the end I couldn’t get up so eventually they called an air ambulance.”

Tomorrow (Thursday 10 December) Louise will find out if she will need to have an operation.

Hundreds of well wishes have sent their support to the rider on Facebook.

This is the second accident Louise has been involved in this year, having broken her shoulder in a fall on 18 October.

She had been planning to compete in the four-star at Pau but was instead out of action for five weeks.

Fundraising plans

16 years ago Louise was in a serious car accident and was taken to hospital by Air Ambulance. She completed a marathon following the accident and raised £4,000 for the charity, as well as £1,000 for Spinal Research.

Louise is already planning to hold another fundraiser for the Air Ambulance to thank them for their help.

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Two riders have completed a sponsored skydive for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance after the charity’s helicopter was called to help three generations of their family.

On Saturday (18 July) Natalie Brodrick and her niece Izzy Sharpe jumped out of a plane at 12,000ft at Headcorn Airfield, Kent, watched by friends and family.

Izzy, 18, was airlifted to hospital earlier this year (4 March) after she fell from her horse at a riding school in Playden, near Rye.

The air ambulance’s doctor and paramedic feared she might have broken her pelvis so flew her to the regional major trauma centre at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Five years earlier Natalie, 37, was taken to hospital by air ambulance after she fell of her horse in Camber, East Sussex.

And in June last year Natalie’s parents, Tim and Diana, were involved in a car crash with an oncoming tractor and another vehicleat Peasmarsh, East Sussex.

The couple were treated at the roadside by the helicopter crew before being taken by land ambulance to the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards-on-Sea.

All four family members have since made a full recovery.

“Riding is a risky sport and we all try to safeguard against injury as much as possible with protective equipment but you just never know what’s going to happen,” said Natalie.

“All four of us have used the service and now we want to give something back.

“It was awesome, a fantastic experience, and I would definitely do it again.

“The most frightening bit was being perched on the edge, ready to jump into the abyss. Izzy went first but I caught her up and we were able to wave to each other in mid-air.”

For more information visit: http://www.justgiving.com/Natalie-Brodrick/

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A retired nurse who almost lost her leg in a carriage driving accident has stitched a quilt to raise money for the air ambulance that rescued her.

Sandra Pochin from Wartling, East Sussex, broke her leg and six ribs when the horse she was driving bolted through a gate.

Sandra and the cart collided with a fence post.

The accident happened in August 2012 when Sandra was training the horse for the Riding for the Disabled Association’s carriage drivers.

The horse’s owner raised the alarm and the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance landed in a nearby field.

The doctor and paramedic onboard treated Sandra at the scene.

She was then flown to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where she stayed for three weeks.

Sandra has since made a good recovery and has helped to sew a patchwork quilt to raise money for the air ambulance.

“It’s our way of trying to help the air ambulance in the hope that they can make some money out of it,” said the 69-year-old.

“I couldn’t have been treated any better by them and I can’t praise them enough. I owe it to them that I still have my leg.”

The quilt took a team of eight ladies from Needleart four months to complete.

The sewers, Maureen Wadhurst, Pam Britton, Pauline McFee, Barbara Willis, Marianne Gunther, Ruth Willcox, Pat Norman, and Sandra, made each patch.

One of the squares on the quilt features the helicopter that came to Sandra’s aid.

It was taken to the helicopter base at Marden on 28 May and is expected to be auctioned off to raise money for the charity.

The Air Ambulance service in Kent, Surrey and Sussex costs around £6.5million a year to run.

The charity relies almost entirely upon public donations to support the two helicopters based at Marden in Kent and Redhill in Surrey.

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Air ambulance crews are urging riders to stay safe this spring after a recent spike in equestrian accidents.

Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) and Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) have both reported an increase in riding incidents they have been called to attend.

DLRAA saw a 66% rise in equestrian accidents during April compared to March this year. WNAA recorded a 62% increase across the same period.

“As the spring weather warms up and people get into the competition season, it is really important to remember to put on your safety gear before going out,” said critical care paramedic Philippa Gibbs.

Equestrian accidents remain the most common sports-related incidents both air ambulance units attend. DLRAA were called to 90 accidents involving riders last year, while WNAA assisted 62 injured riders.

In Case of Emergency cards

The air ambulances will be giving away In Case of Emergency (ICE) cards to riders this spring to encourage safe riding practices.

ICE cards help paramedics and health workers in emergency situations by containing any medical information that might be important, as well as contact details of family members.

The air ambulance advises that the cards, made from coated carboard and business card-sized, are carried in a clearly visible position, such as in an armband.

If this is not an option, riders are advised carry the cards in a pocket or inside their hat.

“ICE cards can help alert medical staff to important information about your health, and also identify you that much faster,” explained Philippa.

“This can be particularly important if an accident has happened in a remote location and there is limited information about your identity available.”

The air ambulance’s ICE cards come attached to a leaflet that contains safety tips for riders.

To get your own ICE card, call 08454 130999 or email enquiries@theairambulanceservice.org.uk and provide your name and address to have one sent out to you.

The cards will also be available for riders to collect at Chatsworth International Horse Trials (15-17 May) and at Rockingham International Horse Trials (22-24 May).

For more information visit: www.theairambulanceservice.org.uk/ice

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Two riders are planning a sponsored skydrive for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance after the charity’s helicopter was called to help three generations of their family (pictured).

Natalie Brodrick and her niece Izzy Sharpe will be jumping out of a plane at 12,000ft at Headcorn Airfield in Kent this summer.

Izzy, 18, was airlifted last month (4 March) after she was thrown off a horse at a riding school in Playden.

The air ambulance’s doctor and paramedic feared she might have broken her pelvis so flew her to the regional major trauma centre at the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton.

Five years earlier Natalie Brodrick, 37, was airlifted after she fell of her horse in Camber.

In June last year her parents were involved in a car crash with an oncoming tractor and another vehicle at Peasmarsh in East Sussex.

The couple were treated at the roadside by the helicopter crew before being taken by land ambulance to the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards-on-Sea.

All four members of the family have since made a full recovery.

“You never know when you’re going to need the air ambulance. We all took precautions, mum and dad were wearing seatbelts and Izzy and I were both wearing a helmet and body protection,” said Mrs Brodrick.

“Riding is a risky sport and we all try to safeguard against injury as much as possible with protective equipment but you just never know what’s going to happen. All four of us have used the service and now we want to give something back.”

The air ambulance service in Kent, Surrey and Sussex celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. It needs to raise £6m a year to keep its two helicopters airborne.

Almost half of the charity’s callouts are to road traffic collisions and about six percent are to equestrian accidents.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

As part of Horse & Hound's 130th birthday celebrations, we will be supporting and promoting good causes via regular online round-ups of events being run by the equestrian community

Rider takes to the catwalk for air ambulance

Surrey rider Cass Lillington has raised over £1,000 for Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance at a fundraising fashion show on 24 November.

Cass, 59, from Cranleigh organised the fashion show and clothes sale in her local village hall with friends and professional models taking to the catwalk.

Last December Cass was thrown off her 16-year-old Irish cob Tigger in a remote location.

She suffered chest and abdominal injuries and was treated at the scene by the air ambulance’s doctor and paramedic before being flown to the Royal Sussex Country Hospital in Brighton.

“No lasting harm was done but I was a bit bashed about and it was very comforting to be whisked off to hospital by such a kind and professional helicopter crew,” she recalls.

Pat Murphy, a riding friend, wrote on her JustGiving page: “Cass, well done for raising this money for such a worthwhile cause which benefits many and especially us equestrians.”

To make a donation visit www.kssairambulance.org.uk

Ball raises funds for disadvantaged children to ride

Over £18,000 was raised for the Emile Faurie Foundation at a masquerade ball in East Sussex on 29 November.

The sell-out ball at Ashdown Park Hotel in East Sussex had a live and silent auction and raffle.

Auction prizes included a day at the races for two in the Royal Ascot Racing Club’s members area, and a visit for six people to go behind the scenes at the Household Cavalry mounted regiment.

“We raised more than we had hoped for and it stands us in good stead for 2015,” said Emile Faurie.

The charity he founded in 2006 provides funds for disadvantaged children in the UK to ride. It funds 30 projects throughout the UK and has six new schemes starting in 2015.

For more information visit www.emilefauriefoundation.org.uk

Point-to-point fundraiser for the IJF

A charity point-to-point race at Barbary Castle Racecourse last Sunday (7 December) raised over £15,000 for the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF).

The 12 riders taking part at the Point-to-Point Owners and Riders meeting were a mixture of aspiring and veteran jockeys.

The winner was Liz Ampairee riding the favourite First Mohican, who romped home 15 lengths in front of the other eleven runners.

“To ride a horse like First Mohican is just a dream come true and to win at Barbury whilst raising funds for the IJF is the icing on the cake. It was one of the best days of my life,” said Liz, who runs her own PR and marketing company.

She said she was “very grateful” to all the support from trainer Alan King and First Mohican’s owner Henry Ponsonby.

In second place was Pandora Bailey, 16, from Hungerford riding Offshore Account and in third was Tik Saunders, daughter-in-law of Grand National winning rider Dick Saunders, on board Royal Etiquette.

For more information visit www.injuredjockeys.co.uk

Jeweller helps the RDA

Hiho Silver is donating 15% of sales generated from its products listed in the Riding for the Disabled Association’s (RDA) web shop to the charity.

The Hiho Silver lines listed on the RDA web shop include sterling silver horseshoe earrings, the eggbut snaffle silver pendant necklace and silver bracelet.

“We’re very excited to be working with RDA. We hope the pieces selected will help to bolster their funds to help them carry on the excellent work they do,” said Emma Warren from Hiho Silver.

“Hiho Silver’s jewellery is a great addition to our web shop,” said the RDA’s Catherine Stuart.

To shop at the RDA web shop visit www.rdashop.org.uk

Riding instructor receives Prime Minister’s volunteering award

A 20-year-old student who battled against ill health to be able to teach children with disabilities to ride is the latest recipient of the Prime Minister’s points of light volunteering award.

Meryl Hanmer didn’t let an operation to remove three brain tumours in 2009 and being confined to a wheelchair for much of this year stop her volunteering at Llangeinor Hunt Pony Club.

She is a is a qualified riding and road safety trainer and a UK coaching certificate level 2 equestrian trainer.

“Meryl’s enthusiasm for her sport and passion for helping others has enabled children in South Wales to learn new skills and experience the joy of horse riding,” said Prime Minister David Cameron.

“Meryl even learnt sign language so she could teach young people with hearing difficulties. Meryl’s dedication makes her a very worth recipient of the Point of Light award.”

Katy Downing, youth coordinator for Riding for the Disabled Association said Meryl is “a very committed, dedicated and enthusiastic volunteer and has been a stand out candidate on the Young Equestrian Leaders award.”

Meryl has been involved with voluntary work since she was 12 years old and said it has “enriched my life enormously.”

She is the 172nd winner of the new award, which every day honours shining examples of volunteering across the UK.

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A team of four intrepid jockeys from Milton Keynes will be taking part in this weekend’s three-day event on foot.

Heading up the team is Milton Keynes Eventing Centre owner Fiona Gifkins. She will be joined by her sisters-in-law Wendy and Jenny Austen and course builder Nick Bigley in the charity fundraiser.

The four aim to raise £1,000 for the air ambulance serving Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Eventer Wendy Austen was rescued by air ambulance after falling off her horse last year. She has learnt to walk again after the accident and is nearly off her crutches.

The four will do a synchronised dressage test on the Thursday of the unaffiliated event (17-20 September).

On the Friday they will take part in the trot-up and on Saturday will walk 11km of the roads and tracks and cross-country phase.

On the final day they will hope for a clear round over 2ft3in showjumping course.

“None of us have got horses to do the three-day on and we just thought after too many Pimms, why not take part on hobby horses for charity,” Fiona told H&H.

After nearly 30 years of hosting horse trials at the venue, this will be the last one as the owners have applied to have a wind turbine on the the cross-country course. The centre will continue to run camps and training.

To donate visit: www.justgiving.com/Mkec/

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Suzanna was competing at 2-star level eventing before an accident while riding a young horse at home in 2012 changed her life.

I’ve certainly been making the most of the lovely weather. I’ve even had my legs out, which is a novelty as I normally have jodhpurs on 24/7. Over the last 2 summers I have managed to perfect my tan!

Badminton Horse Trials was not so fortunate on the weather front. I curled up in front of the TV at home and watched 6 hours of cross-country on the red button on the Saturday. The course certainly proved to be a testing track, which has potentially given competitors a bit of a shake-up. Do we think this has raised the bar and put Badminton back to how it used to be — far from a dressage competition and more the pinnacle of eventing?

Making progress

I’m now back to typing with 2 hands! My shoulder is progressing really well after my most recent operation, and is on schedule in terms of what I can do with it and how it’s feeling, which is fantastic. Instead of having to be back in the wheelchair for 10 weeks as the surgeon first told me, it is now hopefully only 6 weeks in the chair until I can get back on my crutches again. I am counting down the weeks.

Taking a bit of a step back over the last few weeks has been pretty tough, purely because I had only just got some of my independence back through being on crutches and able to drive. I have always found it difficult to accept that I need help, so going back to needing more help has been frustrating. I think this comes from being such an independent person.

Badminton final scores

My accident shattered my self-confidence initially and I hate how I look and feel in a wheelchair ­— it’s just not me. I’ve been through a turmoil of emotions and asked myself a lot of questions that I will never know the answer to… why me, what if etc.

My life has changed and I just need to refocus and reroute onto a slightly different path, and thank goodness I can actually do that. I still have so many choices and such huge support. Ultimately, I can’t change what happened, so as the saying goes “one life, one chance, live it.”

I have been extremely lucky to have endless support from my incredible friends since my accident and have recently had lots of friends making trips to see me and keep me sane.

Bionic battery pack

Before Christmas last year, I had a Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) implanted to try and help the debilitating nerve pain that I have. It’s been a complete Godsend, and so have the team at the John Radcliffe Hospital (especially Liz Moir, Jane Quinlan and Professor Aziz).

The SCS uses a piece of equipment that is surgically implanted under your skin. The system sends mild electrical impulses to your spinal cord and blocks pain signals from travelling to your brain. The tiny electrical impulses are sent via a lead implanted into the spine and are powered by a battery which is implanted under the skin. Crazy stuff!

While I was in hospital last year, the team decided it would be a good idea to see what I was really made of and put me through an opiate detox programme. I certainly wondered on a number of occasions why I had actually signed the consent form to go ahead!

The withdrawals were truly horrendous and I experienced stomach cramps, grabbing the side rails, dripping in sweat while freezing cold, being sick and feeling irritated! But I’m so glad I followed it through as I can now think straight and am no longer in my own little bubble the whole time. I didn’t realise how much the painkilling drugs had a hold on me until I stopped taking them!

Decision time

Having to make decisions about my horses is something that I find extremely hard. Although I am now at a stage where I at least know I will have a future in riding, it may not necessarily be on some of the horses that we have at home.

I have started having a sort out and Milly has gone to my great friend — international event rider Tamsyn Hutchins — to be sold. Milly is a 15.2hh 5-yr-old mare by OBOS Quality, out of a Kings Master mare. I would love to keep her as she is seriously smart, but she is the right age to go on and start competing. I will keep you updated on her progress and how I get on with the other horses.

Air Ambulance food for thought

The service that the air ambulance provides is invaluable and we couldn’t be without it, especially in the sport that we are in.

I have been air-lifted twice, once back in 2003 by the Cornwall’s Air Ambulance and then again in 2012 by the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance. The Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance have been extremely supportive and the team were completely incredible. I can’t thank them enough. They rely on charity, fundraising and volunteering and I really want to give something back.

Ultimately, I want to try to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and do the London Marathon for the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance. However, I am trying to think of ideas for other fun, unique fundraising events that I can do now. I thought of a “crutchathon”, getting able-bodied people on crutches and having a race or tackling an obstacle course. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Let me know what you think below…

Suzanna

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A paralysed rider is planning to hand cycle 250 miles in 5 days to raise money for charity. The “Tower to Tower” challenge, from the Tower of London to Blackpool Tower, starts this Saturday (28 September).

Caroline Wareing, who broke her back in 3 places in a fall at the Staffordshire Show in 2009, will use a recumbent hand cycle.

“After learning I was paralysed, it was a case of getting through rehab and physiotherapy and trying to get back to normality,” said Caroline, a mother of 2.

The Tower to Tower challenge will raise money for Spinal Research and North West Air Ambulance, which airlifted Caroline to hospital after the accident.

Caroline will be supported by a team of 5 friends: Jennifer Anderson, Karl Crompton, Shaun Crompton, Jason Gorner and Katie Longworth.

To sponsor, visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/towerchallenge or text TOWER to 70300 to donate £5.

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3 hunts in the South-west have together raised £38,000 for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance — at a single event.

Blackmore and Sparkford Vale, Portman and South Dorset hunts managed to raise one of the biggest donations from one event for the charity by hosting a raffle and a drinks party in June.

John Sunnucks was the host and leader of the organising committee. He came up with the idea as he lay in his hospital bed recovering from a hunting fall which required two trips in the Air Ambulance.

“All who hunt in Dorset and Somerset are truly grateful for the service the Air Ambulance provides,” John said when presenting the cheque.

“It has saved many lives and will save many more. With no direct government funding its survival is dependent on voluntary donations and its own fund raising efforts.

“It has been a delight working with the enthusiastic and efficient Air Ambulance team and the level of money raised, £38,000 in one event from a standing start, is testimony to the excellence of their efforts and general recognition for the importance of the cause.”

1000 tickets at £25 each were sold for the raffle — prizes included a life size bronze fox by sculptor Emma MacDermott and a holiday to Iceland donated by holiday company Black Tomato.

More than 300 people attended the drinks party including members of the hunts, ex-patients and the crew of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

Guests at the party were asked to give a donation to the Air Ambulance on the day and also encouraged to sign up to the charity’s lottery initiative which costs £1 a week.

Bill Sivewright from the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance said: “We are enormously grateful to John and the team for their incredible hard work in putting together such an ambitious and successful event.

They not only helped raise a large sum of money, they also raised awareness of the work of the Charity across the wider hunt community.”

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Air ambulance charities are to benefit from a £32,000 donation, raised by hunts around the country last season.

Twenty-eight packs raised funds for their rescue services, which attend hundreds of riding accidents each year.

James Stuart of the Four Burrow hunt, which raised £2,000 for the Cornwall Air Ambulance said: “We donate something to them most years as, unfortunately, they have come to the rescue fairly frequently.”

And Major Reg Hanbury of the South Dorset hunt, said: “If there had been no Air Ambulance, I would not be alive. I had a ruptured aorta. The Dorset Air Ambulance got me to Southampton just in time. I was told my chances of my survival were 100 to one.”

Clive Dickin of the Association of Air Ambulances said: “On behalf of the UK air ambulance community we would like to thank local hunts and their members for their many years of devoted support in fund-raising activities for UK air ambulances.

“Across the country 35 air ambulances fly on average two missions each day, touching over 70 critically ill and injured patients, many from the equestrian, agricultural and rural community.

“Without valuable support in fund-raising the air ambulances would not raise the £2,500 per day needed for each aircraft.”

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Nick Skelton, Carl Hester and Lee Pearson have been appointed as ambassadors for the Midlands Air Ambulance.

All three, who won gold medals at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, will support the charity with fundraising and raising awareness of its work.

The charity is close to their hearts. Showjumper Nick Skelton broke his neck in a fall at a show in 2000. His injuries were so severe, that the life-saving attention he received from the air ambulance was critical to his recovery.

The Warwickshire-based rider said: “Without the rapid emergency assistance I received on that fateful day, I doubt whether I would have come through it without some form of paralysis.”

Paralympian Lee Pearson was taken to hospital by the Midlands Air Ambulance following a serious fall from a horse at his yard in the remote Staffordshire moorlands.

He said: “The Midlands Air Ambulance does an amazing job for the general public saving lives, they rely on donations from the public. I would urge people to visit their website to learn more about the charity and how they can make a donation and a difference.”

Carl Hester, whose dressage yard is in Newent, Gloucestershire, also pledged his support.

He said: “With horses there is always an inherent danger and risk of serious injury. The speed of the air ambulance is a vital emergency service that can literally save someone’s life.”

Figures compiled by the Midlands air ambulance show that riders account for more call-outs than all other sporting incidents combined. The charity responds to an average of 15 incidents per month from seriously injured riders. Last year alone Midlands Air Ambulance attended 158 equestrian related emergencies.

If a patient reaches hospital in under 60 minutes their chances of survival are increased dramatically. The maximum flying time from anywhere in the five counties that the three air ambulances cover is fewer than 15 minutes.

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The question of whether to exempt the Air Ambulance Service from VAT on fuel is now eligible for debate in Parliament – after an e-petition on the Downing Street website attracted well over the requisite 100,000 signatures.

As H&H went to press, more than 140,000 people had added their names.

Riders have been encouraged to lend their support, after H&H revealed the extent to which they rely on air ambulances.

The Backbench Business Committee will now decide whether to schedule a debate.

A spokesman for the Air Ambulance Association (AAA)said: “We’re delighted.”

To sign, go to: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/29349

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (19 April 2012)

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New figures have revealed the extent to which injured riders rely on air ambulances.

Figures collected by the Midlands Air Ambulance – and seen by H&H – show that riders account for more call-outs than all other sporting incidents combined.

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) account for 50% of all call-outs, followed by medical emergencies then general falls. Equestrian incidents were fourth, coming in at 8%.

The Midlands Air Ambulance team has been collating data to mark its 21st anniversary this summer.

Of the 36,547 call-outs it has received since 1991, 2,936 (8%) were equestrian. Other sporting incidents accounted for 2,238.

“It’s a combination of the danger of the sport and that riding often takes place in inaccessible places, which can’t be reached by [land] ambulance,” said spokesman Katy Rose Meaney.

Since July last year, the Midlands Air Ambulance has answered an average of 15 calls per month from injured riders.

The speed of the air ambulance is key. For example, Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance – for which 5% of 2011 call-outs were equestrian – can reach any part of its area within 20min.

Last year, Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA) had the highest percentage (8.4%) of equestrian call-outs of the crews contacted by H&H – 68 incidents from 801 rescues.

The Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA), which covers 10 counties, attended 91 equestrian incidents in 2011 (compared with 486 RTAs).

WNAA Coventry Airport base manager Philippa Gibbs said injuries occur predominantly schooling or hacking, but also at competitions and hunting.

“Most incidents are from falls, but five to 10 per cent are around horses being handled on the ground,” she added.

Air ambulances receive no government funding.

It costs around £5million annually to keep two air ambulances in service.

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (8 March 2012)

• If you were injured in a fall and needed time off work to recover, would you be insured? For all your insurance needs, contact KBIS

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Hunts have presented the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance with £8,300 in memory of former whipper-in to the Minehead Harriers, Gary Bradley, who died on 26 January.

Mr Bradley was airlifted following an accident out hunting on 15 January, but died in hospital.

The money was raised from a charity race at the Minehead Harriers and West Somerset Hunt point-to-point in May.

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (11 August, 2011)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now