No joyous Christmas celebration for former Olympic gold medallist Isabell Werth. The 35-year old dressage rider from Rheinberg, Germany, had to be operated on by Prof. Dr. Christian Krettek at the university clinic of Hannover.
The iron plate, which was fixed on her shin bone two years ago after a serious riding accident, had to be removed.
Werth actually wanted to compete in the World Cup in Mechelen to end 2004 in style, but she had to cancel it because of the operation. "The wound is not big, but it is still fresh and it hurts me when I'm riding." Werth commented. She, therefore, cancelled her entry for the CDI-W Mechelen and also skipped the CDI-W London which took place 10 days before Mechelen.
Werth sustained a complicated shin bone fracture in 2002, when her horse Apache OLD spooked in the hallway and made Werth slip and fall on the ground. She was out for six weeks. Werth's first 2005 show will be the Rolinck Cup in Munster, which an interesting competition because many German riders will present their new, up and coming Prix St Georges horses there.
Image copyrighted: Astrid Appels/Eurodressage.com
Related Links
Isabell Werth Fractured Shin Bone
Isabell Werth Goes Independent
Gigolo Rejoined with Isabell Werth