Whiplash injury as a result of badly designed equestrian courses
In many cases whiplash injury is caused by a sudden force being exerted on a person which causes hyperextension and hyperflexion of the neck, as in a rear-shunt car accident, but there are many other causes of whiplash.
Horse riders often suffer similar whiplash injury after either falling from a horse or attempting to jump a badly designed fence. However, it is possible that many equestrian enthusiasts do not attempt to make a claim for compensation as it could be deemed that they were at fault in the accident.
Following the death of a rider at Belton Horse Trials in April 2009 calls were made in the equestrian press for riders to speak up regarding fence design and execution on cross country courses.
In an anonymous letter to Horse and Hound that was also sent to British Eventing (the governing body for eventing in the UK) the writer suggested that riders are reluctant to officially complain about fence and course design because "the BE establishment does not look kindly on competitors who question their judgment".
At the event where the fatal accident occurred, discussion about the dangerous fence was rife. One rider had actually discussed it with the rider who fell just before he took to the course.
He said, "It wasn't a big enough fence for people to complain, but they were worried."
After the accident there was much debate in the equestrian world over how well the complaints system works at events. BE has a body of unpaid ‘rider reps' who can liaise with officials at events, but as one rider representative present at the Belton trials told press, people were reluctant to express their concerns.
She said, "A lot of people don't speak out, because if they do, and the course then rides fine, they will look stupid — but I think this will change from now on. So many people feel bad about not having spoken out about that fence. I feel bad, [the rider] was a good mate."
Horse riding accidents, whiplash injury and compensation claims with the experts
This accident was very much the extreme, but many riders suffer whiplash and personal injury of lesser severity. If you have sustained injury as a result of a badly designed course or fence, then you may be able to make a claim for compensation with the experts at YouClaim.
We believe all clients should get expert legal advice to the highest professionalism whatever the severity of their injuries and however they received them – if another party was negligent then we believe you have the right to compensation and our personal injury lawyers will do their utmost to get you the award you deserve.
We have developed a totally cost free service that completely protects claimants from all fees, even in a lost case. Further, our claimants are guaranteed to receive 100% of any compensation awarded; we will never take a penny once a sum has been agreed.
Contact us today
You can speak to one of our friendly yet knowledgeable advisors by calling our free UK helpline on 0800 10 757 95 or we can always call you back at a time to suit you.
Alternatively, you may wish to fill in our online claim form giving us brief details of your whiplash injury and then one of our compensation specialists will look into the details of the accident before we discuss going ahead with the no win no fee case.
