Grafton groom Hannah Wain dies after riding accident
A groom working for the Grafton hunt died yesterday after a riding accident on Sunday.
Hannah Wain, who had worked at the Grafton for less than a week, died after falling from one of the hunt horses as they were returning to the yard in Eydon, Northamptonshire after exercise.
Miss Wain, 29, had previously been head girl for Banbury-based showing producer David Tatlow for 10 years, leaving his employment after Horse of the Year Show (5-9 October).
Hunt secretary Phillipa White told H&H: “We are devastated. The accident happened on Sunday at lunchtime.
“They were exercising the hunt horses, and were just a half mile from the kennels when the horse she was riding stumbled and went down.”
Miss Wain landed on the road hitting her head. She was airlifted to Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry where she died early yesterday (Tuesday) morning.
She had been wearing a hat.
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Mr Tatlow said: “It was a total freak accident. It’s hard to believe. Hannah had ridden three and four-year-old and broken in horses for years. That she should die on a Sunday afternoon hack is beyond belief.
“She was like a sister to my daughter [showing producer Loraine Homer] and popped over to see us on Wednesday, her first day off.”
A funeral is yet to be arranged.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.