Rider wins after serious illness: ‘I didn’t know if I’d ride again – I couldn’t hold the reins’

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Ella Woodhead riding Quarza at Cirencester Park in March 2022
Ella Woodhead riding Quarza at Cirencester Park in March 2022.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

A rider scored a win in intermediate section O at Cirencester Park Horse Trials last Sunday (27 March) after recovering from a serious illness.

Ella Woodhead, 26, developed a very rare autoimmune condition last summer that confounded the doctors. She spent “months” in hospital and then at home in bed.

Catherine Austen
Catherine Austen
Hunting editor

A St Andrews’ graduate, Catherine joined Horse & Hound in 2002 and stayed for 11 years in a variety of roles until she went freelance in June 2013. She rejoined the team part-time in November 2016 as hunting editor. She pretty much lives on the hunting field or at the racecourse, but also loves eventing, as a journalist, press officer and competitor. She was H&H’s sole accredited journalist at the London Olympic Games and has reported from major race meetings and eventing, showjumping and dressage championships and shows round the world, and has hunted all over Britain and Ireland.