My worst injury

Amateur Jockey, Point-to-Point Trainer and Racing Groom, Ben Furnival, tells us about his worst injury...

“I did a lot of team chasing before it was quite as mainstream as it is now. Looking back to when I was injured; I was riding a novice horse for a friend, I had ridden him hundreds of times before.

The horse was jumping horrifically, which is ironic as he'd completed the Grand National two or three times in a previous life!

Fence 8 on the Fernie Novice was downhill through a bit of a gap to a log, two strides, and a palisade. The lead horse jumped in on the left, I jumped in half a length down in the middle, and the third horse jumped in a length down on my right, we were all very close together.

The lead horse jumped out, my horse slammed on the brakes and the third horse kept going. My stationary leg vs a size 11 foot and stirrup travelling at speed was not a fair fight! You know when you get a belt off a mains electric fence? It was like that but in the middle of my shin bone!

My horse then had the decency to jump the palisade. I plopped off and lay there for a moment assessing my many flawed life choices. I convinced myself I was just being soft and to get up because I had to ride in the open later on. I realised quite quickly that I was not just being soft!

I ended up in Leicester Royal Infirmary having an intramedullary rod hammered straight through the centre of my shin. I recommend avoiding this if at all possible!

It was quite a severe break, and the healing process took a long time. I was officially signed off for five and a half months. I had never thought about having an accident, so I wasn’t insured at the time.

I had a small amount of compensation for my week in the hospital from some private medical care my wife has through work. I then had to sell any horses I owned to help me financially.

I had a few horses with me being broken that I sent home so that brought a bit of money in too. Other than that, I was doing driving jobs taking horses to the races until I was signed back on to ride out again.

I took a horse named Signore Piccolo to Leicester eight weeks after breaking my leg. He was a saint until it was time to get the jockey on, and he became a whirling dervish.
We got the jockey on and going in the right direction and I was leaning over the rails about to cry or be sick because my leg hurt so much.

Although it wouldn't have made my leg any less painful, having income protection would have seriously eased the pressure of that time. Now I know better and have insurance through the BGA!"

Accidents happen to the best of us, and usually least when we expect. 

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