Brave Belgian rewarded after stopping runaway team at Aachen
A Belgian man is to be awarded with the CHIO badge of honour after he stopped a riderless four-horse team at the World Equestrian Festival CHIO Aachen 2008, 27 June to 6 July at considerable danger to himself.
The carriage, driven by Australian Boyd Exell, overturned, tipping Exell, his navigator and back stepper out, and the horses carried on out of the arena and through the crowd at full speed.
Brave Dominique Eerdekens grabbed hold of the reins of one of the lead horses and in a feat of daring held on, despite being knocked to the ground by the galloping horses.
He eventually brought the horses under control.
Mr Eerdekend will receive the badge of honour at the CHIO showground on Tuesday, 29 July.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.