The Netherlands' pony, junior and young rider team trainer and chef d'equipe Tineke Bartels injured herself quite severely falling off a bucking horse on 31 December 2013. The 62-year old former Olympian cracked three ribs and her collar bone.
Bartels had planned on attending the 2014 CDI Drachten this weekend observe the Dutch youth riders competing there, but that role will temporarily be taken over by Sjak Laarakkers.
"I was supposed to give a clinic there and participate in a seminar," the injured Bartels explained. "Furthermore I had to be there as team trainer because it's an observation trial. It's not my habit to cancel and I tried to do everything to make it, but it didn't work out."
Only on 2 January a sore Bartels decided to pay a visit to the hospital for closer inspection. "It turned out that I really had to take it more easily for a while," Tineke confessed. "There they told me I had broken three ribs and my collar bone."
Bartels fell off an experienced 14-year old dressage horse. Shortly after getting on, the horse reared and launched Tineke from the saddle. The horse's reaction was totally unexpected and he probably spooked from something. "People will probably say, 'what did she do now' but this was just bad luck," she explained.
In 2006 Bartels injured herself severely falling off a horse that spooked and took off. She broke three vertebrae in her neck at the time. In 2009 she fell off a youngster and fractured a vertebra in her spine.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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