Charli Parker: Amateur jockey's long road back to the saddle after horror fall

She said: “When it got off me I thought if a broken collar bone is all I’ve got I’m going to be lucky. It was quite nasty at the time and was just one of those things – it was no one’s fault.

"I went to York Hospital accident and emergency and a couple of weeks later they plated and screwed the bone back together. I also had a full body CT scan because they were a bit worried as I had been squashed, but nothing else was wrong.”

Charli, who had only joined the yard as a groom, box driver and amateur rider the previous May, was soon discharged by the NHS as the treatment she was was being given at Jack Berry House in Malton was much more advanced than they could offer.

"My arm had been in a sling for six weeks, so to start with the physio just got my arm moving again”, said Charli. “From week two I did gentle exercises at the gym, where I used the hand bike to stretch the muscles. We then went in the hydro pool which is a really great bit of kit that they’ve got. The water helps without putting strain on anything.”

Thereafter followed lots of work in the gym building up fitness and strength. Charli said: “It was a process. We started steady and built up. I visited Jack Berry House every day for about two and a half months until I was back at work. For the first two weeks I did just a few hours a morning. I was quite surprised, even though I was in the gym all day five days a week going back to work was really hard physically. I now appreciate how much going to the gym is important. When I came back I was stronger and fitter. I just had to apply that to the riding."

Charli said the accident had led her to reassess her ambitions, but she had been determined not to let it affect her confidence. She said: “Day to day things happen and you learn to brush it off, which people who are not within the industry think of as really bad. If you think too deeply about it it would put you off a bit. After the broken clavicle I wasn’t sure whether I would get another pointer. I just thought I don’t want to look back in however many years and wish I’d done it, so I’m just trying to give it my best while I can.”

Charli, who started riding aged four, said it had felt like “the day was never coming” before getting back in the saddle. She said: “It felt like a long four months waiting to get back on a horse. Everyone said I would be really nervous, but I just cracked on. Ruth was really good to me, she put me on some quite ones to start with, but I was soon back in full swing.”

About three weeks after returning to work, the former Lady Lumley’s School pupil took part in a charity race at Carlisle on bay gelding Star Start, which she won and raised £1,200 for Racing Welfare, which helps fund Jack Berry House. Charli said: “It was a proper buzz, but it made me desperate to ride a winner under rules. The night after the charity race I went to Newmarket to do the amateur licence so I haven’t had my amateur licence for very long.”

Charli’s return to racing has also seen her riding in point to point meetings at Duncombe Park, Askham Bryan and Sheriff Hutton, the latter which saw her claim a third placing, as well as winning the Amateur Jockeys' Handicap on Star Start at Ripon and the Racing to School Amateur Jockeys Handicap at Catterick.

She said: “I would really like a ride in the Queen Mother’s Cup at York in June, a win would be even better, but I’d take just a ride there. I’d like three more winners on the flat so I could apply for the Ladies Fegentri, a series for amateur jockeys across the world.

Fegentri gives opportunities to amateur jockeys to enjoy race riding abroad. Last year, Serena Brotherton, of Whitwell on the Hill, near York, and who won the Queen Mother’s Cup in June, was selected to represent Great Britain in the series. Serena finished the season winning the Silver Spur for the Ladies as official runner-up to the World Champion.

Charli, who is marking her 22nd birthday this week, said: “They are quite good at picking new people each year, so I like to think if I have a good season I would be in with a chance. Ruth is really good to me and will try to put a horse in the amateur races if she can. The more winners I ride the more chance of outside rides you get. It’s a steady process, but hopefully I’ll get there.”

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