Queen's Granddaughter Zara Tindall Takes a Scary Fall Off Horse During Show Jumping Event
Zara Tindall took a nasty spill from her horse during a weekend competition.
The Queen’s granddaughter was riding her horse Class Affair during a jump showing event at the Burghley Horse Trials on Saturday when she fell from the animal, landing on her side.
Luckily, Zara was wearing an air vest that inflated when she fell from her horse (it functions much like an emergency stop on a treadmill, deploying when the lanyard detaches). She was able to get up and walk away from the accident on her own.
Nearby, her family was cheering her on. Husband Mike Tindall kept their two daughters — 5-year-old Mia and 1-year-old Lena — occupied, even doing acrobatic tricks by lifting up Mia while laying on his back.
Zara, an equestrian who medaled at the 2012 Olympics, returned to competitive riding just two months after welcoming second daughter Lena — much earlier than she did following the birth of her first child.
“The first time around my body was in so much shock,” she said in a promotional video for sponsor Land Rover. “It was like, ‘What the hell have you done to me?’ “
Zara, 38, said her return “feels good, actually,” and adds she now has her eye on a big target. “I’d love to try and get back on the team,” she says. “I’d love to go to another Olympics.”
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The royal won a silver medal for the team competition at the 2012 Olympics in London. (In a special moment, the award was presented to her by her mother, Princess Anne, who competed in the 1976 Games.)
Zara added,“To be in London, the crowd, the whole Olympic experience, I can’t tell you, it gives me goose bumps talking about it. It is incredible.”
