‘A pretty bad situation’: judge who broke neck at show fears for sport’s future

An experienced ride judge who was not supported by the show at which he sustained serious injuries says he is concerned about the implications for the future of the sport.

Former Showing Council chair David Ingle is also facing huge bills as a result of the fall, from a heavyweight hunter at Balmoral Show, Northern Ireland, on 16 May. NHS doctors missed the significant fractures to his neck and shoulder, which were diagnosed when he sought private healthcare, weeks later.

David had just mounted the horse and did not have his feet in the stirrups when it reared, pawed then bronced repeatedly, throwing him to the ground.

“I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter; it happened pretty fast,” David told H&H. “I knew at the time it was fairly serious, but probably not quite as serious as it turned out.”

David flew home and was taken to hospital, where he was told no fractures could be seen. He carried on working, but was advised to seek a second opinion.

“I was sent to a specialist, who said I shouldn’t have been doing what I’d been doing since the fall, and the fractures should have been spotted,” he said.

David was booked in to have his shoulder pinned and plated on 4 July, but this was postponed as doctors were concerned that the neck fracture was not stable. He was told to wait six weeks for reassessment, in hope the neck will have healed enough to allow the shoulder surgery. His medical bills are expected to total nearly £20,000.

“I’m in a pretty bad situation,” David said. “I’m arguably one of the most experienced ride judges around and I’ve been campaigning for 15 years for better insurance and support for judges. I’ve been very disappointed by the complete lack of support. The show isn’t affiliated to any society, which is fine, but that means I was there as their employee; they invited me there to judge and you expect to be looked after.”

David said he would advise all ride judges to check what insurance or protection there is in place before they accept appointments.

“I fear for the future of ride judging if shows can’t do better than this,” he said. “Judging has always been a difficult thing. You don’t do it for money – it probably costs us to do it – but because you love it. Volunteering is everything in this sport, but I told another friend who’s a judge what happened and he said, ‘We must be mad. Why do we do this if no one cares if we get hurt?’

“I’m not out of the woods yet and the most important thing is getting back to full health, but I fear for the younger generations coming into this job.”

David praised the work of Ruth Flack of Sport Horse Breeding of Great Britain (SHB(GB)), who has been very supportive.

“It would be great if from this we could create something that might benefit people in future,” he said.

Ruth told H&H it was “extraordinary” that David had contacted the show for support and had none.

“On top of that, it would appear that the show denies any duty of care towards their judge,” she said “Judges like David give their time, expertise and credibility to shows for free; it is not unreasonable for them to expect the show to take responsibility for their safety.”

Ruth added that SHB(GB) is concerned that David’s may not be an isolated incident.

“Many shows choose not to affiliate with any show society, so need to address insurance cover for the judges they use,” she said.

“By making an unvalidated assumption that individuals are covered by their own personal accident insurance, shows are failing in their duty of care. At SHB(GB), we train our judges to a very high standard. As a result of this, they are highly sought after. “The worrying truth is, it seems that some shows are not respecting them by insuring them for the vital task that they are performing, without which shows would not be able to run classes.  We are now left with a seriously injured judge with a broken neck and shoulder who, currently, will have to fund his own medical bills.”

SHB(GB) has now advised judges to check with shows that insurance is in place and ask for relevant risk assessments.

“We value every judge, official and volunteer and will take any steps necessary to ensure that their personal safety is at the forefront of everything that we do,” Ruth said.

“We will also be writing to our members to remind them of their duty in respect of the behaviour of their exhibits. Every owner has a responsibility to make sure they do not put judges, officials or staff at any unnecessary risk by exhibits being challenging, difficult or even dangerous.

“Finally, we ask all shows to check their insurance and be certain that they are covering the judges as part of this schedule. The judge is a vital part of what we do and they must be insured as standard. To not insure them is to be irresponsible and reckless, not to mention morally wrong.”

David said he is very grateful for the support from within showing and thanked ride judge Michelle Underwood who, with other judges, created a GoFundMe page to help with medical costs.

Theresa Morrissey, group executive director of Balmoral organiser the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society told H&H: “The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society is very sorry that Mr Ingle was injured while judging at the Balmoral Show.

‘We cannot comment on individual cases however, any suggestion that the society does not have adequate insurance is factually incorrect. In line with other show societies, the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society has adequate and substantial insurance coverage.

“The society takes the safety and care of all its visitors, members and personnel exceptionally seriously. On behalf of the society, I wish Mr Ingle a speedy recovery.”

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