The equestrian world is “shocked to the core” following the death of event rider Georgie Campbell at the Bicton International Horse Trials in Devon on Sunday. Despite attempts to save her by medical responders, the vastly experienced and successful 36-year-old rider died at the scene after a fall. Her mount had tumbled at a fence that was the second part of a combination of a hedge and a hanging log with a dry landing before open water.
Laura Collett, the British Olympic team gold medallist from Tokyo who suffered a life-threatening fall herself in 2013 which left her blind in one eye, paid tribute to her friend. She said: “Georgie was the most genuinely lovely girl you could ever meet. She would light up any room with her smile and always made time to chat.
“She was a fantastic rider who produced many horses up through the levels. It’s hard to comprehend what has happened, a beautiful soul has been taken far too soon.” Campbell was based at Lamberhurst near Tunbridge Wells in Kent with her husband Jesse and was riding in an event called CCI4*-S (short) at the popular West Country horse trials.
Her mount, 11-year-old gelding Global Quest, who was uninjured in the fall, stepped up to 4 *level in 2022 and won at La Lignieres, the highlight of Campbell’s career, in France that autumn. Campbell had also ridden at Badminton and Burghley, 5* events, though not on this particular horse. Taught to ride at the age of two by her mother, Campbell (née Strang) married fe.
