JILLIE Rogers regularly gets flashbacks to the day she tragically lost her Irish cob, Elliot (pictured), in an accident on the roads of Wexford. It was well over a decade ago, but it’s still very fresh in her mind.
“I had moved over to Ireland from the UK a few years earlier and had been enjoying some great hunting with Elliot,” she recalled. “He was eight at the time.”
Jillie remembers it was a Saturday and the roads would be quiet.
“We were all togged out in our high-viz gear, including leg bands for Elliot. We were only gone a few minutes when I heard a car coming round a bend towards us. The driver screeched to a halt when they saw us but my horse spooked, reared and swung round. It all happened so fast.”
Jillie remembers falling to the ground and her horse hitting the windscreen of the car with such force that he broke his leg.
“I was lying on the ground injured and my horse standing there with his leg in a bad way. Some of our neighbours heard the bang and came running out to help. One of them called my partner Fran and both the ambulance and the Gardaí were also called. As I was being taken away in the ambulance, someone called the vet. Sadly Elliot had to be put down on the spot.”
Jillie suffered a punctured lung and several broken ribs in the fall, and remained in hospital for three days.
While waiting in the ambulance Jillie was interviewed by the Gardaí and she told them that she thought that the driver was going too fast. However, it emerged that the driver was not exceeding the speed limit of 80kms, even though it was a narrow country lane.
“In fairness the driver came to visit me in hospital and was very apologetic over what had happened. I told them that it wasn’t their fault. I was relatively new to the area and got on well with everyone so I decided not to take it any further.”
While Jillie doesn’t ride much anymore, she is kept busy as a BHSI Instructor and Assessor for the British Horse Society which includes Ridesafe. She also does quite a bit of cycling now when weather permits.
“I believe 80kms is too fast for these narrow country roads, but then there are people who ride horses without reflective clothing. It goes both ways,” she concluded.