Australian Olympic medallist Stuart Tinney has suffered a fall during training, resulting in a fractured neck.
The fall, which happened at his home and training base at Maraylya near Sydney on Tuesday, resulted in fractures of the neck in three places - C2, C5 and C7 - but ‘he was very lucky and has full mobility’ says his wife Karen.
The horse that Stuart was riding also fell but ‘is absolutely fine’.
Stuart spent three days in hospital following the accident but is now back home and will be in a neck brace for the next six weeks, with ongoing scans to measure progress. You can’t keep an eventing rider immobile for long however and, while Stuart won’t be able to ride for three months, he will be at Camden this weekend where he is the cross country course designer for Equestriad CCI, keeping a close eye on things!
With some talented young horses coming through the grades and Stuart and Karen’s daughter Gemma currently based overseas, the Tinneys will look to place the horses with other riders to finish off the competition season. Stuart has also suffered some back problems in 2024 but ‘hopefully 2025 will be a bigger and successful year’ says Karen.
