“I nearly got it right, but when I turned downhill I discovered that instead of being able to fit in three good accelerating strides, Goodwill was going to fit in only two and a half. Horses can’t work out halves - and as they have four legs, who can blame them? - so he took off sooner rather than later. The result was fairly spectacular, so I’m told. Goodwill’s leap very nearly succeeded in that he got everything over the fence except his back feet, but they unfortunately were tucked up underneath his bottom which meant that when they hit the back rail of the fence they effectively stopped him and pitched him on to his nose, at which stage I left, rapidly ejected out of the saddle, and I landed heavily on the point of my hip and the tip of my shoulder on what felt like a road. I had barely come to a halt, as it seemed to me, when I was surrounded by people, shouting, talking, waving, and all in different languages. It was difficult enough to establish my own state of health, never mind Goodwill’s, but when I stood up, I discovered that my right leg was completely numb between my knee and my hip. The leg didn’t seem to want to support my weight.”
Princess Anne on her fall during the cross country at the European Eventing Championships in Kiev on 8 September 1973.
‘Riding Through My Life’ by Princess Anne (1991)


















