Death of rising equestrian star (15) ‘a very tragic accident’, inquest told

A rising young star of Irish equestrian sport suffered a fatal injury at a horse-riding centre in Dublin after her horse landed on her after stumbling at a water jump obstacle, an inquest has heard.

Allegra “Tiggy” Hancock (15) was pronounced dead at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin on June 16th, 2021 – where she had been rushed by ambulance after sustaining serious injuries while riding at the Greenogue Equestrian Centre in Rathcoole, Co Dublin,

A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Monday heard post-mortem results on the body of the talented event rider revealed she had suffered catastrophic blunt trauma injuries to her abdomen and liver.

Tiggy, a student at Kilkenny College who came from Corries, Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, had been attending the riding centre in Dublin as a member of Horse Sport Ireland’s high performance eventing programme.

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Her mother, Jane Hancock, told the inquest that her daughter had been training at the centre since 8.45am and had already completed lessons in showjumping, before the accident happened shortly after 1.30pm.

Ms Hancock, who witnessed the incident, said Tiggy’s horse had hit a roller on the water-jump on a cross-country course and both rider and animal “just went over it”.

The inquest heard that Tiggy was an accomplished and experienced rider who had won a bronze medal representing Ireland at the Under-16 European Eventing Championships in Poland at the age of 13.

[ Remembering Tiggy Hancock: The life and tragic death of a 15-year-old eventing champion ]

In reply to questions from the coroner, Aisling Gannon, Ms Hancock said she had no concerns about the training her daughter was involved in on the day.

“It was just a tragic accident,” Ms Hancock remarked.

A trainer with Horse Sport Ireland, Becky Cullen, who also witnessed the fall, said it appeared like Tiggy’s horse had not registered the obstacle.

Ms Cullen described the deceased as “an extraordinary child who was capable of riding beyond her years and as good as many senior riders.”

The cross-country riding trainer said the jumps on the course were relatively easy for someone of Tiggy’s capability and had been jumped by a group of less experienced riders earlier that day.

She said the horse being ridden by Tiggy was also “very capable and experienced”.

Ms Cullen said the course was not particularly challenging on the day as she had decided that the training would be kept simple and used for “confidence-building.”

The trainer said one of the positive developments to arise out of Tiggy’s death was greater awareness within the sport about the safety of jumps on cross-country courses.

Ms Cullen said such obstacles were now being viewed from how they were seen by horses with people recognising the need for contrasting colours to be used in their design.

She noted the obstacle where Tiggy fell on the day was “brown water with a brown jump and brown sand”.

A former advisor to the high performance eventing team, Ken Mahon, who also witnessed the accident, said the horse had “flipped” after striking the water jump.

He said Tiggy had hit the ground first before the animal landed on top of her.

The inquests heard paramedics attempted unsuccessfully to resuscitate her after she went into cardiac arrest and suffered a collapsed lung.

Garda Michael Noctor told the inquest that there was nothing suspicious in relation to the teenager’s death.

The coroner said she would request Horse Sport Ireland to provide national guidance on cross country jumps and the need to regard them from the vision of horses.

Returning a verdict of accidental death, the coroner offered her condolences to Tiggy’s family for what she described as “a very tragic accident.”