Eventer kicked in the head at CCI1* trot up
*Warning Graphic Images below*
Rebecca Page, a 19-year-old Event rider, sustained 20 stitches after her horse Liberty Bell II kicked her in the head during the trot up for the CCI1* event at Houghton Horse trials. Incredibly Rebecca showed true equestrian grit and determination and embodied the “get back on the horse” attitude when she completed the rest of the 1* event coming an impressive 33rd out of 76 starters.
Rebecca described how the accident, which is every equestrian’s worst nightmare, occurred:
“I was walking my horse Liberty Bell II around before the first horse inspection and I had been called over to go into the little pen where you go just before you’re about to trot up. Libby got wound up due to the noise of the other horses trotting up behind her and she came right in front, spun a little and then bucked. She caught me on the head with her back foot! My ears were ringing but it was the strangest sensation ever, I heard people shouting medics but I was like ‘no I will be fine in a minute’, and then there was blood and quite a lot of it! Mum caught Libby and had to trot her up!
Rebecca experienced the true highs and lows of eventing within quite a close proximity; when she completed the rest of the event achieving a dressage score of 53 and a foot perfect double clear, accompanied by the 20 stitches in her forehead.
“The first thing I said after it happened was ‘well that’s the end of my 1*’, I was gutted as I had put so much work in for being ready! Thank god I was wrong! I was totally amazed with my result. We took one day at a time, and I had to be assessed by Nicola the medic every morning. Do you know what once I got out there I was so focused I didn’t even realise. Libby is an absolutely amazing cross-country horse, she knows her job and loves it, she looked after me! I had to ride with a dressing over the stitches to stop them rubbing which was a little weird. My mum couldn’t even watch, she never doubted me or Libby but she said she just couldn’t picture me coming through the finish after what had happened!”
Rebecca, a full-time event rider, currently has a couple of horses owned by her “really great friend and supporter, Sallie Clough.” Rebecca expressed “She made my dreams come true by buying me a horse last year; she’s recently just added another to the team.”
She is based at Event rider Jo Wise’s yard, in Boxworth, Cambridgeshire, and she praises Jo: “he helps me massively and I’m lucky to have such amazing facilities!”
On her horse Liberty Bell II, affectionately known as Libby she tells us:
“Libby is an absolute diva, I have produced her myself and we work as one, we are such a team. She’s demanding of attention and always thinks that she is number one! She’s extremely special and quite frankly I can’t imagine the yard without Libby’s head over the stable door. We are aiming for an intermediate but at this precise moment she’s enjoying a mini break after putting her all into Houghton!”
Rebecca assures us that she is now recovering from her ordeal:
“I’m feeling fine now, in fact I never actually felt bad, it looked a lot worse than I actually felt but I was very lucky to experience just a cut!”
We wish her all the luck for the future and urge all Everything Horse readers to ensure that they always wear helmets, when leading horses.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.