AN inquest into the death of 15-year-old Tiggy Hancock, held at the Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Monday, returned a verdict of accidental death with the coroner Aisling Gannon offering her condolences to Tiggy’s family for what she described as “a very tragic accident.”

Tiggy was fatally injured on June 16th 2021. She was rushed to Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin after sustaining serious injuries during a Horse Sport Ireland High Performance training day at Greenogue Equestrian Centre in Rathcoole, Co Dublin but was sadly pronounced dead.

As reported in The Irish Times this week, a sitting of the coroner’s court heard post-mortem results on the body of the talented rider revealed she had suffered catastrophic blunt trauma injuries to her abdomen and liver.

Tiggy’s mother, Jane Hancock, told the inquest Tiggy’s pony had hit a roller on the water jump when training cross-country and the combination “just went over it”.

In reply to questions from the coroner, Mrs Hancock said she had no concerns about the training her daughter was involved in on the day. “It was just a tragic accident,” said Mrs Hancock, who witnessed the incident.

The inquest heard about Tiggy’s achievements and experience in the sport, with trainer Becky Cullen describing her as “an extraordinary child who was capable of riding beyond her years and as good as many senior riders.” Cullen, who also witnessed the fall, said it appeared the pony did not register the obstacle. Cullen added that there is great awareness in the sport about the safety of cross-country jumps following Tiggy’s death.

The inquests heard paramedics attempted unsuccessfully to resuscitate the rider after she went into cardiac arrest and suffered a collapsed lung.

The coroner said she would request Horse Sport Ireland to provide national guidance on cross-country jumps and the need to regard jumps from the vision of horses.

Ms Gannon said the death had also been referred to the Health and Safety Authority but it had no remit as Tiggy was not an employee of the riding centre.