Over the stable door: Falling for a new safety idea in a risky sport

Okay, I have broken my nose a few times, my hands, a few ribs, had 25 stitches in my gum after ripping it off my jaw when ploughing the field at the Middleton point to point on a useless maiden I'd been asked to ride. But I can still walk, talk, dress myself and hold a knife and fork. It's more than an unfortunate few can manage to do after they've had a bad tumble.

The experienced horse I was riding forgot to put its landing gear out over the first fence. It head-butted the ground and I followed. The worst types of falls are those that are completely unexpected. I heard the crunch as my head compressed into my neck and instantly pain shot up my arms. I lay there thinking "I'm okay, I can feel my legs, wiggle my toes – but red hot pokers are seriously burning my arms". I was airlifted to Queens Hospital in Nottingham where I was virtually tied to the bed to prevent any movement and dosed up to the clouds on morphine. The diagnosis was a haematoma on my spinal cord caused by traumatic compression to the vertebra. It was affecting the nerves in my arms which still felt like hot knives twisting underneath my skin. Recovery prognosis – lengthy, if at all. Basically wait and hope.

For two years my quality of life was unforgiving. I was riding plenty of winners but constant pain takes its toll. I looked and felt haggard but I knew I had to live with the consequences of the choices I had made.

Now life is as normal as it ever will be. Pain clinics, consultants, specialists, alternative treatments and the odd strong painkiller eventually worked to curb the symptoms. I continued my extreme sports at full throttle throughout, for which I count my blessings. Adrenaline fuelled my determination not to be beaten. I am lucky.

"No-one teaches you what to do when you fall off a horse," said champion jockey John Francome, vice president of the Injured Jockeys Fund, when he visited the new "Equichute" mechanical horse at the British Racing School in Newmarket last month. Designed in France, this revolutionary machine is a fall training simulator for riders, the first of its kind in the UK. It allows jockeys to learn how to fall, to reduce the risk of serious injury by tucking their shoulders in and rolling away from the horse – not a natural reaction when you are being hurtled through the air. "It teaches riders to be proactive and do something … as opposed to just waiting to hit the ground," John explained as he watched the young conditionals happily being fired into orbit before trying it out himself. If it stops one person ending up in a wheelchair it will have earned its keep. Figures show one in 14 rides result in a fall and the simulator is now used on all jockey training courses held at the BRS.

The nearest I got to practising falls when starting my pointing career was being pulled off the wall onto a mattress by a friend who had broken his collarbone three times. Avoiding the stone wall on landing was more concerning than being pulled off. A few facial scratches and a banged head or two later we gave it up as a bad job.

I wish the Equichute had been around ten years ago, maybe I wouldn't have needed my trip in the helicopter.

Jo Foster trains horses at Brookleigh Farm, Menston.

CW 27/11/10