Groom who died at The Hand named as Carole Tassell
A groom who died at The Hand Equestrian Centre in Somerset nine days ago has been named as Carole Tassell.
The 48-year-old had been working for showjumper Claudia Verburgt at the centre’s Premier Show on 17-18 March.
The accident was not horse-related and is not being treated as suspicious. Ms Tassell appears to have fallen into a ditch and drowned. She was found on Sunday 18 March.
“It was a very sad accident and every parent’s worst nightmare,” Ms Tassell’s mother Val Payne told H&H.
“It was nobody’s fault but I’d like to warn anyone to take care – whether you’re working with horses or just wandering around the site.”
Mrs Payne added that she’d seen Ms Tassell the day before.
“She was so happy and doing a job she absolutely loved,” she added.
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.