Event rider injured in trials

SCOTTISH event rider Nicola Malcolm was airlifted to hospital yesterday after falling from her horse and injuring her head during the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in Lincolnshire.

The 22-year-old, from Renfrewshire, had been competing in the cross-country phase of the prestigious four-star event aboard her grey gelding McFly. The fall happened at the Birch Hedge, fence 19. Competition was stopped for an hour while she was treated at the scene.

The rider, who has help from the former Olympian and Badminton winner Ian Stark, was taken to hospital in Coventry by air ambulance. Burghley officials later said that she had suffered a head injury in the fall.

Two riders - Frenchman Eddy Sans and Ireland's Louise Lyons - were held on the course behind Malcolm, with 24 combinations still to start their cross-country rounds.

A Burghley official said: "The rider's condition is stable following a head injury suffered when the horse fell during the cross-country phase. The horse was not injured."

Burghley and Badminton are the showpieces of British eventing's season, and are two of five annual four-star competitions worldwide. The Burghley Horse Trials are designed to be a complete test of horsemanship and are held in the stunning parkland of Burghley House, Stamford. The course was designed by the Princess Royal's former husband Captain Mark Phillips.