INJURED Longford show jumper Aisling Byrne said sitting on a pony and getting rid of her crutches this week were two huge steps forward in her recovery from a freak riding accident.

Byrne, who broke both her hips and crushed her pelvis in a horse fall at a show in Portugal in February 2018, flew home to Ireland after spending four days at the Injured Jockeys Fund Oaksey House in Lambourn, Britain, where she had two sessions a day with a specialist physiotherapist.

Her main goal was to get off crutches once and for all. “I managed to do that. I am not fully strong on it yet, but I am going to go without it for as much as I can,” she told The Irish Field as she made her way home for Mullingar International Horse Show on Friday.

Byrne believes there is a need for a facility like Oaksey House, which is run by the Injured Jockeys Fund specifically for jockeys and riders, in Ireland. The facility provide most services free of charge to jockeys who hold a professional licence.

“It is so badly needed [in Ireland]. When you get out of hospital, you don’t know where to go for these types of injuries. Not every physio knows how to deal with it, it is quite a specific riding injury,” said Byrne, who self-funded her recovery.

“If I had a jockey’s licence, I would have gotten funding. I’ve gotten no help at all. Yes it would have been helpful financially, but also to have that support and advice on where to go, what to do and how much to push yourself would have been huge. I really didn’t know what I should do.”

Back in the saddle

Byrne got back in on a pony two weeks ago, despite being told numerous times she would never ride again. “I had been told from the start that I wouldn’t get on a horse again. I was pretty determined that wouldn’t be the case. I was surprised how many times I was told it wouldn’t happen, they told me my hip wouldn’t work in a certain way,” she explained.

It was her first pony Angel who provided her with the joy she had been missing out on for the last 15 months. “It felt amazing. I didn’t feel any issues with my hips. It showed me I have a lot of work to do, but it really focused me. Just to be able to look out through her ears was fantastic.

“Sitting on the pony and getting rid of the crutch were two steps forward. For a couple of months I felt like I was taking a couple of steps backwards and it felt like wasted time. It feels great to be moving forward now again, I feel like having a plan,” the infectiously positive Byrne added.