Tragic rider Tiggy died after horse stumbled & fell on her

Mum tells inquest of 'freak accident'

- SEAN McCARTHAIGH

A RISING young equestrian star was killed when her horse landed on her after stumbling at a water jump, an inquest heard yesterday. 

A RISING young equestrian star was killed when her horse landed on her after stumbling at a water jump, an inquest heard yesterday. Allegra "Tiggy" Hancock, 15, was described by trainer Becky Cullen as "an extraordinary child who was capable of riding beyond her years and as good as many senior riders".

A sitting of Dublin District Coroner's Court yesterday heard postmortem results revealing she suffered catastrophic blunt trauma injuries to her abdomen and liver.

Tiggy, from Co Carlow, had been attending Greenogue Equestrian Centre in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, as a member of Horse Sport Ireland's high-performance eventing programme when the accident happened.

She was rushed by ambulance to Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin on June 16, 2021, but was pronounced dead.

Her mother Jane Hancock, who witnessed the incident, told the inquest 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".