Rotational fall claims life of Olympic eventing prospect Peta Beckett
A leading prospect for the 2000 Olympic Games died of a crush injury when her horse fell at the Savernake Horse Trials in Wiltshire on May 15.
Peta Beckett, 33, was crushed between her horse and a fence when the animal stumbled over a double jump on the novice course. Beckett, a former model and a lecturer in equine science at Moreton Morrell College, Warwickshire, was airlifted to hospital but doctors were unable to save her.
According to a report in the Oxford Mail, Beckett was thrown from her five-year-old gelding, Twemlose Pathfinder, as she cleared the first of a two-part obstacle, an offset rails jump. It was the eighth obstacle on the course.
“She flew through the air and crashed upright into the second fence before the half-tonne horse ploughed into her at full speed,” the newspaper said.
A week earlier, she had placed 21st at the Badminton Horse Trials and was ranked 24th in the world. “She was regarded as a near-certainty for the British equestrian team in the 2000 Olympics.”
Beckett bred horses near Banbury, where she lived with her husband, Marvyn, and children, Hermione (8) and Orlando (6). After the accident, Marvyn insisted the event continue.
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