Georgie Campbell, the British event rider, suffered a fatal bleed on the brain when she was killed in a fall while competing, an inquest has heard.
Campbell died during last month’s Bicton International Horse Trials in Devon when her mount, Global Quest, tumbled at a fence and the pair fell into water.
Despite attempts to save Campbell by medical responders, the vastly experienced and successful 36-year-old rider died at the scene.
Exeter coroner Alison Longhorn told a hearing on Wednesday that Campbell suffered a fall from her horse on May 26 and suffered a fatal injury.
She said: “There are no suspicious circ*mstances. The cause of death was a basal subarachnoid haemorrhage.”
The inquest was adjourned to a later date pending further investigations by the coroner’s office.
Following her death, glowing tributes were paid to Campbell, who was married to fellow event rider Jesse Campbell – who competed for New Zealand at the last Olympics and is on the long list for this summer’s Games in Paris.
Laura Collett, the British Olympic team gold medallist from Tokyo who suffered a life-threatening fall herself in 2013 which left her blind in one eye, said: “Georgie was the most genuinely lovely girl you could ever meet. She would light up any room with her smile and always made time to chat.
“She was a fantastic rider who produced many horses up through the levels. It’s hard to comprehend what has happened, a beautiful soul has been taken far too soon.”
‘It has shocked the equestrian community to the core’
Campbell was based at Lamberhurst near Tunbridge Wells in Kent with her husband and was riding in an event called CCI4*-S (short) at the popular West Country horse trials.
Her mount, 11-year-old gelding Global Quest, who was uninjured in the fall, stepped up to four-star level in 2022 and won at La Lignieres, the highlight of Campbell’s career, in France that autumn. Campbell had also ridden at Badminton and Burghley, five-star events, though not on this particular horse.
Pippa Funnell, one of only two riders to have won eventing’s grand slam of Kentucky, Burghley and Badminton in the same year and a doyenne of the sport, said: “Words seem shallow to describe a person as unique as Georgie. She was absolutely beautiful both inside and out. She was such a special member of the eventing community, loved by so many. It has shocked the equestrian community to the core.
“Always gracious, thankful and fun but incredibly hard working and so very talented. I have had the pleasure of helping her with her dressage in recent weeks. She was a joy to teach. It was very evident she adored her horses and between them, I felt they had the attributes to go to the very top of the sport she loved.
“She was a much-loved family member and wife devoted to her husband Jesse. A very dear friend to many. It is so very tragic. My heart goes out to Jesse and all who loved her. The eventing family will all pull together to help and give each other support and comfort, particularly for those friends and loved ones that need it most.”
William Fox-Pitt, a two-time Badminton winner who announced his retirement after 40 years in the sport earlier this month, said: “I knew her as a very competent, thorough, ambitious and accomplished rider who did everything well. She wasn’t someone you’d worry about [being a risk]. If you were wanting to learn, she was a good one to watch. She was very organised with her riding.”
After five riders were killed in British eventing in 1999, the sport has made huge strides in safety and horse welfare. Body protectors are now mandatory and previously “solid” fences are now held up with frangible pins, which means they collapse when hit hard.
Fox-Pitt, who spent a fortnight in a coma after a fall in France in 2015, added: “The fence she fell at has been there five years and jumped hundreds of times, I should think almost without incident. It asks a horse a very fair question and it was unbelievably unlucky it didn’t work out but, for whatever reason, horses can occasionally misjudge the simplest of fences.”
Last year, Zazie Gardeau, then the reigning European champion young rider aged 21, was airlifted to hospital after a fall at a different fence at Bicton left her with head injuries. She eventually returned to France, where she is still in recovery.
