Teenage girl, 13, suffers head injury in horrifying horse riding fall
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: A teenage girl has been taken to hospital with head injuries after a horrifying horse riding fall in Western Australia on Saturday.
The 13-year-old was competing in the State Jumping Championships at the State Equestrian Centre in Brigadoon.
Distressing footage of her fall was streamed live on social media.
It appears to shows the girl's horse clearing an initial jump, before clipping the second and falling, causing the rider to flip over its neck.
On the ground, the horse appears to roll onto the girl, who suffered a head injury.
Paramedics told 7 News she was conscious, but because she had a head injury a rescue helicopter was called.
The teen was initially flown to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, then taken by road to Princess Margaret Hospital, where she remains in a stable condition.
A 13-year-old girl was competing in the WA State Jumping Championships when her horse fell. Picture: 7 News
Equestrian WA chief executive Dwight Pedlow told: “She was able to able to answer questions, she knew what horse she was riding.
“It’s just precautionary. But she obviously has a head injury and you’ve got to be careful about that.”
Seven News understands the horse was not injured.
The horse clipped the jump and falling, causing the rider to flip over its neck and hit the ground. Picture: 7 News
A 39-year-old man is also in critical condition after a horse fell and landed on him in a seperate incident when he was competing in a polocrosse event in Capel, south west of Perth.
The man was taking part in a polocrosse tournament, a team sport which is mixture of polo and lacrosse, when his horse lost its footing and the pair hit the ground.
The horse then rolled on the man, who was knocked unconscious, to the horror of about 280 other players taking part.
He suffered critical head injuries, with bleeding on the brain, and taken to in Royal Perth Hospital where he was placed in an induced coma.
