Sharon Hunt has spoken for the first time about losing her promising horse, Cavalier Bertie, at Weston Park Horse Trials, Shrops (14-15 April).
The eight-year-old Cavalier Royale gelding was injured in a fall in the intermediate and had to be put down.
Writing on her Facebook page, Suffolk-based Sharon said: “I’m only now able to write about Sunday, the most awful day of my career so far.
“I had a terrible fall with Cavalier Bertie, who broke his elbow and had to be put to sleep.”
Sharon and Bertie fell at the Toboggan Run, a fence which – according to H&H eventing reporter Jo Prestwich – “otherwise caused little trouble”.
Sharon told H&H that Bertie was one of her best horses, in terms of potential.
“He was about to go advanced, at Chatsworth. I thought a huge amount of him. It is incredibly sad,” she added.
Writing in the new issue of Horse & Hound (19 April), Jo Prestwich said: “Two superb days of competition [at Weston Park] were marred by the death of Sharon Hunt’s intermediate ride, Cavalier Bertie.”
