Paul Tapner and Bonza King of Rouges at Badminton 2017
Paul Tapner has made a marvellous recovery after suffering two bleeds on the brain and a mild stroke in a hacking fall from his advanced horse Bonza King of Rouges in early August
However, the past Badminton winner and Australian eventing team representative, says that “I haven’t got back on a horse yet — and I have got no plans of getting back on, ever.
“I’d already retired from professional eventing. I was remaining competitive at the top level, but only with that one horse, and I was going to see his career out and finish anyway. I’ve slightly finished earlier than I wanted to, but my competitive career is over and I’ve got no desire to go back to it.”
In an interview with Horse & Country TV Paul and his wife Georgina have talked about the fall, Paul’s injury and how his recovery is progressing
Paul was hacking out when he fell and it was the return home of his horse, Bonza King of Rouges, without him that alerted Georgina to the problem. His 16-year-old son Josh then found Paul and he was rushed to hospital where it was confirmed that Paul had suffered a mild stroke
Paul says he is now nearly back to normal. He is still undergoing rehabilitation but is now hanging up his riding boots for good as he concentrates on his media career as Operations Manager for the Event Rider Masters series and his daughter Madison will now take over the ride on Bonza King of Rouges
