Dutch Grand Prix rider Jeannette Haazen and her husband and trainer Chris both got injured in a riding accident during a clinic in Zutendaal, Belgium. The couple was transported to the hospital for medical care.
While mounting of Santino, one of her young horses, Haazen lost her balance when the youngster started rearing heavily. She fell over backwards and crashed on her back. Chris Haazen, who kept on holding the horse but stumbled and fell underneath it, got injured to his ear.
Haazen was immediately transported to the local hospital. Fortunately Jeannette did not sustain any fractures but got heavily bruised. Chris' ear got stitched. Jeannette was able to leave the hospital on Monday evening 21 November 2011.
"Fortunately there's nothing broken, but I am in a lot of pain and can't do anything at the moment," Jeannette explained. "Getting in and out of bed is dramatic and very painful. Once I'm up I can walk step by step but I hope to be skipping around by next week. My back and bum are a beautiful landscape painting in various colours and it changes daily."
Her husband is recovering too. "Chris is doing better as well. They were able to stitch him up after all," she joked. "Let's just laugh with all this misery, no?!"
It's not the first time that the Haazen couple got severely injured. In 2007 the couple was involved in a serious truck accident on their way to the CDI-W Odense in Denmark.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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