LIKE so many, Juan Matute Guimón started 2020 full of high hopes for the year ahead. The 22-year-old Spaniard had just landed a career-best score with his top horse Quantico, he was on track for a place at the World Cup Final in Las Vegas, and a spot on Spain’s Olympic team looked well within reach for the son of the three-time Spanish Olympian Juan Matute Snr. But while it was the coronavirus pandemic that stole the dreams of sports people across the world, Juan faced a much tougher struggle.
On 5 May, Juan collapsed while riding at home and was airlifted to hospital in Madrid, with a bleed on the brain. Two operations ensued, as doctors battled to save his life, followed by 25 days in a coma, with medics and his family unsure of the long-lasting effects once he awoke.
“I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the day that it hit me, and I’m starting to remember more,” Juan tells me from his base in Spain, as we chat over Zoom, three months after he was first hospitalised.
“I was riding a PRE horse I have at home, doing piaffe-passage – without stirrups actually – and my father was videoing me. I gave the horse a break, then just had this unbelievable pain and felt like I was fainting. I was able to get off the horse and I remember sitting on the ground and shouting that it hurt I think, but from there it’s lights out.”
Sitting outside his home in the evening sunshine, Juan is relaxed, upbeat and chatty, with just the tracheotomy scar on his neck giving away what he has been through. But he is in awe of what he has overcome, of the way in which his family, friends and medics have stayed strong over the past few months, and of the huge outpouring of support he has received from the equestrian community all over the world.
Denne historien er fra September 17, 2020-utgaven av Horse & Hound.
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Denne historien er fra September 17, 2020-utgaven av Horse & Hound.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
'Sorry, but I wasn't feeling it'
Fresh from the opening meet, Tessa Waugh hasn't quite yet been bitten by the hunting bug. Without the crisp autumnal air and cheek-pinching cold she hoped for, it's a sluggish start
New pair pull off a win
A former European Championships pony is on form with his new rider, while elsewhere former showjumpers and eventers take ribbons
Lording it over the rest
Horses who have returned from injury, a second generation homebred and a long format specialist score on the final weekend of the British season
Smith hits flying form
A \"her way or no way\" mare helps Zoe Smith to an impressive ribbon haul and a rider beats his own boss to the top spot
Jankorado hits the jackpot
Paul Sims is triumphant despite his interrupted jump-off preparation and a borrowed horse comes up trumps
Peanut
From \"dangerous, scary\" to hedge-hopping brilliance, hunting has been the making of this unstable but very lovable equine character
She's a corker
Communication, says long-standing and highly respected Belvoir master Lady Sarah McCorquodale, is the key to all, as Catherine Austen discovers
Access all areas Cavalier Centre
The Cavalier Centre is a fully accessible, state-of-the-art equestrian centre designed to improve lives through horse-based activities. Ellie May Forrester pays a visit
'Use it or lose it'
Not everyone wants to reach for the pipe and slippers at a certain age. Becky Murray speaks to some veteran horse-and-rider combos for their secrets of human and equine longevity
A new way forward
Worm control in horses is vital, but established methods will not remain effective for much longer. Tim Mair FRCVS explains why and how we need to change
