An 80-year-old champion rider died after being accidentally trodden on by her own horse, an inquest has ruled. Margaret Davies, known as Maggie, suffered injuries to her sternum and a fractured clavicle when her thoroughbred horse, Benny, became spooked and knocked her to the ground on August 8.
Mrs Davies, from Norfolk, was leading the bay-coloured Connemara to its paddock when the horse jolted sideways. She was admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital but developed pneumonia while receiving treatment and died on August 24.
Area coroner for Norfolk, Johanna Thompson, concluded that Mrs Davies had died an accidental death. The inquest heard that the exact cause of the horse's fright remains a mystery as Mrs Davies was unaccompanied at the time.
Mrs Davies had devoted her adult life to equestrianism, competing in dressage, cross country and showjumping locally and internationally. Despite previous injuries from falls, she was determined to continue riding. Her GP had encouraged her to give up in 2018, but she replied: 'Never.'
Her husband, retired eye surgeon Dr Peter Davies, paid tribute: 'Maggie was passionate about horses and a lover of nature from a very early age. It was an awful, tragic accident and we will miss her terribly.'
