Articles labeled: horse accident

Shannon Bloomfield, 12, of Bletchley, Bucks, UK, loved riding horses since she was a small child. She was eagerly awaiting her 13th birthday, as that’s the age to qualify in more prestigious three-day equestrian events. There was even talk that Shannon was good enough to make it into the 2012 Olympics. Then tragedy struck during training:

She had almost completed the course when her horse, Poppy, failed to negotiate the penultimate fence.

It fell awkwardly, trapping the young rider, as horrified spectators looked on. Shannon was pronounced dead at hospital.

Yesterday, her parents, Darren and Wendy, both accomplished riders, paid tribute to their “sports-mad” daughter.

Mr Bloomfield, of Bletchley, Bucks, who sometimes competed in events alongside his daughter, said: “From the day Shannon sat up, she sat on a horse and even then she wanted to jump.

“She loved all sports, and the pony club got her into tetrathlon, which is running, shooting, horse riding and swimming. For that she had to learn to swim in weeks.

“Whatever she did in life, she always gave it her all. Even on the day she left us all she had to win her class.”