Grassroots British Eventing rider Robyn Rees was looking forward to another season in the saddle when a hacking accident around her family’s farm changed everything. A fall left her with multiple fractures to her foot, requiring surgery and months of rehabilitation, putting both her riding and day-to-day life on hold.
The Injury & Initial Challenge
Robyn was hacking around the family’s organic egg farm when her horse slipped and fell, landing on her foot. The accident resulted in fractures to her second and third metatarsals, a shattered fourth metatarsal and a displaced fifth metatarsal, which required surgery and a metal screw to stabilise the injury.
The road to recovery turned out to be a long one. Robyn spent almost five months in a moon boot and even longer using crutches.
Living and working on the family farm, where being mobile is an essential part of everyday life, made the injury even more challenging. As well as putting her eventing ambitions on hold, it had a significant impact on her ability to help with the family business, and her ability to look after her horse.
Work became extremely difficult, as her day-to-day roles included checking on the hens and beef cows, collecting eggs and carrying stacks and boxes of eggs around to load delivery vans. Being on crutches meant she was unable to go in any of the livestock sheds and couldn’t carry anything. She was also unable to drive, though was lucky enough to be gifted the use of a golf buggy to get from home to the farm, which gave her a small amount of independence back.
Robyn adds “It was very difficult to go from living life at 100-miles-a-minute to stand still, but the hardest part was definitely the guilt associated with not being able to help anyone out, and constantly having to rely on everyone to pick up the slack at work, help with day-to-day care of Eric and help with even the most menial of tasks such as food shopping/getting to and from appointments/even carrying a cup of tea to the sofa!”
How the British Eventing Support Trust helped
Although Robyn had private health insurance, it didn’t cover the physiotherapy she needed to make the best possible recovery. Through her British Eventing competing membership, Robyn contacted the British Eventing Support Trust and spoke to Jane Rudd and Jane Hunter-Walsh, who arranged and funded both hydrotherapy and physiotherapy sessions throughout her rehabilitation.
The additional treatment made a huge difference. While the NHS was able to provide just two physiotherapy appointments, the British Eventing Support Trust funded 12 sessions, giving Robyn access to the specialist rehabilitation she needed to rebuild her strength and confidence.
The Outcome
Today, Robyn is back running for fitness and recently completed a half marathon, something that felt a long way off in the early days of her recovery.
Although she made the difficult decision to sell her event horse because he was ready to continue his career before she was fully fit, she hasn’t left the sport behind and continues to ride whenever she can, borrowing horses from friends and family while she works towards her own return.
“My goals now are to continue gaining the strength and flexibility back in my foot and ankle, and then start looking for my next eventer, ready to take on next season. The BE Support Trustwas invaluable in helping me, as I would be months behind my rehab without them. They were all incredibly kind and helpful throughout the whole process.
I must thank my coach for telling me to reach out, as it wouldn’t have crossed my mind due to the accident occurring at home rather than an event, and I am only a grassroots rider, not a pro!
My advice for anyone who ends up in a similar predicament would be don’t rush your injury or rehab, as it only slows it down and potentially will do more harm in the long run. And do reach out and ask for help. No one is going to judge you for it, and people are happier to help than you might think! “