TRIBUTES WERE paid yesterday to TV producer Karen Rodgers, who died in a horse-riding accident while participating in a one-day equestrian event near Watergrasshill, north Cork.
Ms Rodgers, who was 42 and from Grangecon, Co Wicklow, was competing on the cross-country course at Ballindenisk Equestrian Centre when her horse, Kilcoltrim Brigade, misjudged a jump and she was thrown over the fence.
It is understood that Ms Rodgers was getting up from the fall when the horse carried over the fence and fell on her. She was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor in attendance and her body was later removed to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem.
Eventing Ireland chairman John Wright, who was attending the event hosted by Ballindenisk owners, Robert and Joyce Fell, said that Ms Rodgers' death had been met with shock and sadness by those in the equestrian fraternity in Ireland.
"We are in a state of shock, which we are sure will be shared by everyone in the horse sport community . . . and we wish to extend our profound and heartfelt sympathy to all her family and friends," he said.
Ms Rodgers was well known in the world of television production, running Panache TV from her home in Co Wicklow and producing several well-known series on RTÉ television as well as working for the BBC with whom she began her career in 1989.
One of the youngest producers to join the BBC back in 1989, she worked on many series, including The Travel Show, Songs of Praise and the award-winning documentary series, Everyman.
Ms Rodgers moved to Ireland in 1996, working as a producer and also a director on series such as Garden Heaven, Ear to the Ground, Would You Believe and About the House. She also worked on two Irish Language documentary series, Leargas and Scannal.
Ms Rodgers had a long-standing interest in equestrian matters and worked as series producer and director of a six-part series centred on the characters in horse racing called Turf Wars, which was brodcast by the BBC and RTÉ.
Ms Rodgers also co-devised, directed and produced a children's music series for RTÉ, The Big Little Music Show, and a follow-up children's series, What's the Story, which was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award.