Remembering that last fence mistake with a horse Rachel Blackmore was riding a few years ago maybe the rules of racing meant that Townend was concentrating on not letting his legs touch the ground and then gathering the horse up. As with other accidents it’s like something split second but happening in slow motion; it’s probably all a blur to Townend I would imagine. Had he fallen off the poor horse would still have died unless, perhaps the injury to his back was exacerbated by still having a jockey on his back urging him on. Either way it was like one of those awful times when you’re so relieved to see a horse get up after a fall only to realise it’s badly injured but still running. Only, in this case it still had a jockey on its back. And after such a brilliant round of jumping, too. Awful, just awful.
