Inessa Merkulova, Russia's long-time number one Grand Prix who recently got severely injured in a riding accident, is back home and on the road to recovery.
The 55-year old fell off her horse at her stable in Bremervörde, Germany, on 28 January 2020. She was rushed to the Bremerhaven University hospital, where she spent four weeks in an artificial coma.
Double Pneumothorax
Merkulova did not sustain any head trauma but got severely injured to her chest. She sustained multiple fractures and a bilateral pneumothorax. Because she was absolutely not allowed to move, the doctors put her in an artificial coma.
At the beginning of March, she was transferred to a pulmonology center in Hamburg to begin her rehabilitation
"Since mid-March, due to the need to ensure special safety conditions from the corona virus, Inessa finally returned to our stable in Bremervorde and continued her recovery on her own, working hard in this aim," her husband Anatoly Merkulov told Eurodressage.
Target Tokyo
Inessa is not yet riding, but can also ready go for walks and easy runs to get back in shape.
"In her opinion she’ll be able to start riding with two new Grand Prix horses and her favorite Mister X, which is in good condition now, probably even in August," Merkulov added. "Inessa will do everything that is possible to get the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games in Tokyo."
Merkulova's number one Grand Prix horse, the 16-year old Trakehner Mister X, took Inessa to the 2016 Olympic Games, the 2014 and 2018 World Equestrian Games, the 2015 and 2017 European Dressage Championships, and three World Cup Finals (2014, 2015 and 2016). The bay gelding injured himself shortly after his last show, a CDI-W in Moscow in September 2018 two weeks after the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon.
Her two rising Grand Prix horses are the 11-year old KWPN bred Upgrade (by Scandic x Riverdance) which the couple bought from Valery Volkov and with whom Inesse made her CDI small tour debut in 2017; and the 10-year old Rhinelander Furst Albert (by Furst Romancier x Fidermark), which Inessa rode in the small tour at the 2019 CDIO Aachen.
Inessa's fourth Grand Prix horse, the 11-year old Latvian bred Arums (by Aromats x Amulets) has been given to Inessa's sister Marina Aframeeva as a Tokyo hopeful.
"Marina is also helpubg us with Inessa’s other horses during her recovery," Anatoly added.
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