Schoolteacher’s death while trying to remount ruled accidental
A schoolteacher died after being thrown from her horse while she was trying to remount, an inquest at Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday (Wednesday 21 January).
Jayne Goodwin, 44, was returning from an evening ride with friends on 9 January 2014, when her six-year-old Friesian mare, Kali, bolted as she was trying to get back on after closing a gate.
Ms Goodwin was knocked unconscious and was taken by paramedics to Leeds General Infirmary.
She had suffered massive brain injuries in the fall and the decision was taken to switch off her ventilated life support machine on the 28 January last year.
Ms Goodwin was an experienced rider, but coroner David Hinchliff said the mare had developed a habit of bolting while being mounted.
Reading from a statement given by her friend Georgina Adkin, Mr Hinchliff said: “Kali was always flighty, but Jayne was a very experienced rider and felt she had Kali’s behaviour under control.”
Ms Goodwin was heard saying “Oh Christ, she’s going,” before she fell out of sight of the group she was riding with.
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Ms Adkin told the inquest: “I wasn’t sure whether Kali had hit her in the head as Jayne got on or whether it was the speed at which she set off that caused her to fall.”
Police initially attended the scene of the accident before concluding that there were no suspicious circumstances. Mr Hinchliff recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Ms Goodwin kept seven horses at stables in Methley as well as owning three dogs and seven cats.
In a statement, her brother, Chris, said Ms Goodwin, had loved animals from an early age.
“The love of her life was Kali. As a child Jayne had always dreamed of a day when she would have a life full of riding and a stable full of horses and she was living that life,” the statement said.
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.