Nicola Wilson out of action after showjumping accident
Nicola Wilson has broken her collarbone and is likely to miss the first few horse trials of the eventing season.
The accident happened at a British Showjumping competition at Port Royal, Yorks, last Wednesday (18 February), while Nicola was jumping in a 1.30m class.
“It’s just one of those unfortunate things,” she said. “At the moment I’m not in much pain at all and I’m having it plated on Thursday morning (26 February).”
Nicola — who has three horses entered at Isleham (7-8 March) and eight at Oasby (12-15 March) — will have a better idea of when she will be back in the saddle after the collarbone has been plated.
She said: “We’ll see what they say on Thursday and take it from there. I have all sorts of physio lined up and the World Class programme have been very supportive, so hopefully I can get back riding as quick as possible. The horses will be kept going by my girls here and the owners have been great about it.
“I’m grateful that the weather has been kind this winter, so we’ve been ahead of the plan all the way through, which gives us a bit of breathing space. Of course, I’d rather this hadn’t happened, but it’s another hurdle we just have to deal with.”
Nicola plans to take One Two Many and Beltane Queen to Badminton this year, with Annie Clover and Watermill Vision aimed at Kentucky.
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“It’s exciting, but really with horses you just make plans so you can tweak them — this [injury] wasn’t planned,” she said. “I haven’t been back to Kentucky since the World Equestrian Games in 2010 — and I haven’t done the regular four-star there since 2009 — but it fitted in well with the horses’ spring plans this year and I’m looking forward to it.”
Nicola has a strong string of top-level mounts for this year, with Kiltealy Brief, Bulana and Ngong Hills all aimed at a spring CCI3* in addition to her four-star team.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.