'My bone was shattered'

A working rider bouncing back from serious injury and a busy farmer are among those securing coveted Badminton tickets

- ELLIE HUGHES

Little Downham (4), Cambs

CHARTERED structural engineer Caroline Dyer earned her pass to next year’s Badminton grassroots championship with a win in one of two BE100 regional final sections with her own 11-year-old mare, Curraghgraigue Quebec (Cobweb).

It was a remarkable comeback victory for the Derbyshire-based rider who, 18 months ago, was in hospital with a shattered femur.

“Something spooked Cobweb and I fell off and landed awkwardly – it was an innocuous fall and just one of those things,” said Caroline, who had several operations to fix the spiral fracture that ran almost the length of her thigh bone. “I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to event again, so to qualify for Badminton is so exciting.”

Caroline trains with former five-star winner and renowned coach Ruth Edge.

“Everything I achieve is down to Ruth’s fabulous training,” she enthused. “I get to her once a week for a lesson and I’m lucky that I keep Cobweb on livery at Eland Lodge, with fantastic facilities.”