Melissa: wrong place, wrong time

Melissa Moseley, a long-term BGA member, was a freelance groom for five years before she was unfortunate enough to have an accident that left her with a scar the length of her forearm.

Melissa tells us what happened…..

“I have had horses since I was a child and decided to start freelancing when more and more people asked me to help, I also covered a lot of dressage yards.

After five years of trouble free freelancing the unexpected happened, I had an accident, it really was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was bringing in two horses from the field, one of which was an old, retired horse. He was gentle but strong. Seemingly for no reason he shot forward and then double-barrelled me.

As my arm was pulled when he moved so quickly, he kicked my forearm, breaking it in two places. He wasn’t even wearing shoes and yet still caused a lot of damage!

I luckily had an earpiece in, which was connected to my phone and allowed me to call for help, while clasping my broken arm with my other hand.

Shortly after that, I passed out briefly with the pain, so my friend drove her car into the field and took me to the hospital.

Later I had an operation to insert a plate onto the bone with seven screws, which will stay in forever, and has left an impressive scar!

That unlucky event caused me to have 10 weeks off work, as per the advice from the doctors. 

I couldn’t drive but luckily my Grandparents live in the same village as me and so they were great at giving me lifts. My Grandad has an allotment and so I would go with him. That was the silver lining, being able to spend so much time with my Grandparents. My Grandad was very sweet and gave me a homemade certificate to say I was the best allotment helper!

Time off work was very boring but at least I didn’t have to worry about money during this time!

If I could give advice to other grooms, it would be to get insurance, you never know when you might need it.

I am so thankful I was sensible by making sure I had protection in case I needed it ‘one day’, as that day came when I was least expecting it!

Thank you BGA”

INSURANCE IS A MUST

Fortunately in this case Melissa had suitable personal accident insurance in place to provide a weekly income while she was unable to work - Melissa had this insurance as part of her BGA membership!

If you couldn’t work, could you pay your bills?