Irish Olympic dressage rider Abi Lyle has returned to competition after fracturing a vertebra – and has enjoyed a stint in the showjumping ring.
Abi, who has expressed interest in dabbling in other disciplines, was injured in a cross-country schooling fall in January. She sustained a stable fracture so did not need surgery, but was on “box rest” for six weeks.
Abi has been back in the saddle for five weeks and told H&H she is looking forward to the year ahead.
“It was a smooth recovery, I was quite good because I did nothing and literally sat on my bottom for six weeks and just relaxed,” she said.
“After six weeks I started doing a little bit of light yoga and started to move a bit more, and then by eight weeks I got back on.”
Abi took advice during her recovery from international dressage rider Fenella Quinn, Abi’s good friend with whom she owns horses. Fenella was seriously injured in a fall in 2015, underwent surgery on her back and made a full recovery.
“Fenella really hurt herself and was great for advice on how to keep myself occupied, and she is pregnant at the moment so we were off resting together which was nice,” said Abi.
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“Everyone just told me to listen to my body and to the doctor, and taking that six weeks was really important.”
Abi first got back on her Paris Olympic ride Giraldo (Arty), and has added more horses each week.
“I was quite shocked at how strong I felt again quite quickly, obviously I lost some strength because I’ve never in my life not done anything for six weeks, but I was really surprised how quickly everything came back,” she said.
“I’m still building myself up, in a lesson the other day I got a bit sore with a horse that gets a little strong, so it’s just about stopping and taking a minute and not suffering in silence.”
Abi has enjoyed a return to competition – but in a showjumping ring rather than white boards. Abi and Francesca II (Chessie), owned by Fenella and her mum Jacqui Ross, enjoyed a spin round a course in the unaffiliated showjumping league at Cherwell.
“I’ve also been cross-country schooling, I’ve been to Lyneham, Ascot-under-Wychwood and Aston-le-Walls. The plan is I still want to do an event this year,” said Abi.
“Chessie is so good, she loves it. She’s a little bit more laid back on the front, but when she jumps she’s a different horse, she’s ‘Let’s go!’. It’s so much fun and she’s so nice to jump.
“But she’s away to do an inter I and prix st georges soon. My goal for the end of the year with her is to do a one-day event and an inter II test, so we need to make sure they both happen.”
Abi added that Arty and her other top ride Farrell – who is for sale – are also both fit and well.
“We’re training at Carl’s [Hester], and they’re still doing everything,” she said.
“There’s no rush to sell Farrell, the most important thing is that we find him the right person – he could do amazing things for somebody like an under-25, but we will wait until that right person comes along. The plan is to do Hartpury CDI, then we’ll see what happens.”
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
