Teen who sued ex-boyfriend’s mum for £3m after fall from horse left her paralysed relives horror accident

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Her barrister claims she should never have been allowed to ride Polly, but Mrs Miller's defence suggested Ashleigh gave the impression of being an experienced rider and "may have been trying to impress her boyfriend".

The accident left Ashleigh - now 18 - paralysed from the waist down, and she successfully sued Mrs Miller at London's High Court for £3million.

Ashleigh was riding Polly in a field in Mathern, near Chepstow, when she suffered catastrophic injuries in 2012.

She told the : "I still have nightmares about that moment.
"I can remember the feel of her ears as I went over her head. It was as if it was in slow motion. I knew I was about to hit the ground.

"It took 45 minutes for the paralysis to set in.

"My toes went dead and then the numbness ran slowly up my body. Everyone was telling me that everything would be all right, but I knew then that something really bad had happened."

The teenager, of Woolaston, Lydney, in the Forest of Dean, claims Polly "misbehaved" and broke into a canter of her own accord, throwing her off in the process.

But Mrs Miller, in her 40s, says the horse was blameless and that Ashleigh fell after losing her balance as she descended a "short and gentle slope".

The court heard Ashleigh had been taken to a field on 22 September 2012 by Mrs Miller, mum of her then boyfriend Kieran Miller.

Kieran, who is supporting his mum in court, insisted Ashleigh was a competent rider and he had even seen her riding bare back.

She had previously ridden Polly briefly during a viewing in Abergavenny shortly before Mrs Miller bought her.

Giving evidence, Ashleigh told the court she felt Polly was "fidgety" and had been nipping at her and others.

Describing her fall, she added: "I had been riding for about five minutes and started trotting Polly.
"She then went to canter and I held her up because I didn't ask her to.

"She was throwing her head around and bucked, then I came out of the saddle and went over the horse's head.

"I hit the floor and rolled."

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David Westcott QC, for Ashleigh, said she should never have been allowed to ride Polly as she had only ever ridden ponies before.
She was not an experienced equestrian and was just over five feet tall at the time.

He also said the mare was more than a hand higher than Ashleigh's own pony, was "bred for racing" and had not been well trained.

The barrister told the court: "Ashleigh should never have been permitted to ride Polly in an open field on that day.

"Even putting on one side the many indications that Polly was not going to be easy to ride, there was an obvious chance that the horse would be too big and strong for her to handle."The risk was that Ashleigh would fall and suffer serious injury, and that is exactly what happened."Mrs Miller disputes Ashleigh's version of events, and says the teenager tumbled off Polly as she was riding her at a walking pace down a hill in the field.She also said she had spoken to the teenager's mother before letting her ride the mare, and believed Ashleigh was more experienced."I had spoken to her mum and she was happy for her to come riding," said Mrs Miller."I also had a conversation on the phone with her before and she said it was ok."I didn't know a lot about horses, but I knew how Polly looked and she looked good.

"I believed that Ashleigh had more experience, she had more experience than I did."

The case comes just days after dad-of-two Paul Schofield died after falling from a horse on holiday and playing down his injuries so it wouldn't affect his insurance.

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Winston Hunter QC, for Mrs Miller, said: "Ashleigh gave Kieran an impression that she was indeed a competent rider.

"He had seen her gallop on her pony, Beauty, and she rode Beauty bare back.

"It's not age that matters, it's experience."

Judge Graham Wood QC asked: "She may have been trying to impress her boyfriend with her riding skills? There's a cachet in that."But Mr Hunter responded: "There's no evidence Mrs Miller was aware that she had only ridden ponies.

"Ashleigh was a competent novice, someone who would have been able to ride Polly, to walk, trot or indeed canter".

Judge Wood decided Ashleigh is entitled to full compensation from 43-year-old Mrs Miller.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ashleigh insists she does not blame her ex-boyfriend or his family - and the figure of £3million comes from her lawyers.

She said: "I don’t harbour any bad feelings towards his mum or his family. They would never have wanted this to happen to me. But it has happened and I have to deal with that.

"If your car was damaged in an accident because of someone else, you would want compensation. I have a lifetime of this ahead of me. If anything happens to my parents, I’ll be on my own."

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