IRISH international dressage rider Carolyn Mellor has announced her retirement from riding following surgery. “It all started last October,” said the Comber-based former national champion. “I had pain in my calf, and I thought I had just pulled a muscle. To cut a long story short, after getting some medical opinions it transpired that the pain was coming from a blocked femoral artery in my leg. The pain would come within a few minutes of starting to ride, like a really bad muscle cramp, and it was becoming very limiting as to what I could do.

“I initially tried a three-month walking programme, but that didn’t help, and surgery was the next resort. The surgeon thinks the problem was probably caused by riding in the first place, from the constant pressure of the saddle, and compounded by hereditary artery problems which mean my blood vessels are probably not as strong as they could be in the first place.

“The aim of the surgery was to put a patch on the blocked artery so that I could continue to ride, with the worst-case scenario being that the artery would need to be bypassed entirely. The bypass proved necessary, and if the bypass doesn’t hold there is a strong probability that I might lose my leg. The surgeon feels it is unlikely to hold if I continue to ride so, to me, it’s not worth the risk. My priority is that I try to keep my leg.

“It’s gutting. My whole life has been horses and it’s not going to be easy to fill that gap, but I will continue to teach and breed.”

Mellor’s VSH Gouverneur M, with whom she achieved her career highlight of competing at the 2021 European Championships in Hagen, Germany, as well as her national title in 2024, will be leased to a young rider. Ballett’s Bellissima, an eight-year-old mare she feels “definitely has the ability to go to Grand Prix,” will be sold. Mellor also has young stock currently being backed, and two broodmares back in foal for next year. A BHSI, she will continue to teach clinics alongside supporting her clients at home.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey,” she said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would represent Ireland internationally at a European championship and be national champion. I feel very lucky to have done what I have done, I just would have loved another couple of years to produce my next Grand Prix horse.”