British-based U.S. rider Liz Halliday-Sharp announced on her Facebook page that her four-star horse HHS Cooley was euthanized on July 31 at the Burgham Horse Trials in Morpeth, Northumberland, England, after fracturing a leg on course during the CIC*** cross-country.

Halliday-Sharp confirmed that the pair fell at an open, airy oxer when the gelding tried to bounce the middle of the jump. She had already successfully completed the course on her other horse Fernhill By Night. The fence had a frangible pin that was broken, and Halliday-Sharp was thrown clear, but fractured her C7 vertebrae. She was released from the hospital on Aug. 1

Halliday-Sharp brought along “Cooley” from the start of his FEI career. She spent this winter and spring season in Ocala, Fla., preparing the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Clover Echo-Flown, Imperius) for their first Rolex Kentucky CCI****, which they completed in 40th place.

Halliday-Sharp had planned to tackle the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials CCI**** (England) this fall.

“To say I am devastated is an understatement…He was my partner, by best friend, and the bravest horse in the world with the biggest heart who ALWAYS tried his hardest and gave his best. He really loved eventing from the first moment and lived for the traveling and competing,” said Halliday-Sharp. “Cooley gave me so much in my life, from my first international win, to my first opportunity on the USA training list, and my first CCI**** completion at Rolex this year.

“I will never, ever forget the amazing clear cross country trip he gave me at Rolex and the joy of being there with a horse that I loved so much and had produced from the early stages of his eventing career up to the top.

I totally trusted him and he trusted me, and what a ride we have had through the years.

Thank you to my mother who owned him and believed in him, to Richard Sheane for finding such a superstar, and to all my team who loved him and looked after him, especially my head groom Gemma who truly had a special bond with Cooley and adored him as much as I did, and was thankfully with him at the end.

Also, thank you to Al, Marky and Paul for helping yesterday and to everyone at Burgham who did so much for us including the medics and vets that attended to us both so swiftly and professionally. 
I still can’t believe he is gone, but we will have to somehow find a way to repair and move on. I will never, ever forget you buddy, thank you for everything and for being my horse of a lifetime… Love you Cooley”

Added Aug. 1: Halliday-Sharp released a statement via Facebook about HHS Cooley’s death:

I’m sitting in hospital after my second night here and although I’m still so so sad, I am feeling amazed and overwhelmed by the incredible amount of love and support that I have received from everyone—thank you all so much and I’m so glad that Cooley was so well known and loved by many.

I’m looking forward to going home soon with [my husband Al Sharp] who has been here supporting me, and to start repairing my body and soul, and while I am recovering I will of course be watching and cheering for everyone in Rio! 

I have been thinking a lot while I have been here, and I want to put something out there about why this tragedy happened to my wonderful horse, and I’m hoping that it might trigger some consideration and maybe some change for the future from the [Fédération Equestre Internationale] and national federations. I also want to say that in no way at all am I blaming the Burgham Event itself as they have all been very helpful and supportive throughout this terrible situation. 

Where we fell was at a very wide, but not very tall, open rail oxer off a turn. When I walked the course I remember thinking it was one of the widest I had seen in an advanced competition and that it would demand respect and proper riding, and I was concerned that a horse could possibly misread it as a bounce.

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I went out on Blackie [Fernhill By Night] first and he jumped it well, and when I went out on [HHS] Cooley I planned to give it the same amount of respect. I arrived at the fence with the correct pace and a good shot (confirmed by people who saw) and plenty of leg on, and as Cooley jumped he must have suddenly thought it was a bounce, and he came down in the middle of the fence, just in front of the back rail.

The fence was pinned, but I do not remember if it released and no one seems to be able to answer that—anyone I ask says they weren’t paying attending to the fence as they were all apparently attending to me since I had hit the ground so hard and was unconscious, and of course my horse was injured.

Cooley was the bravest, best cross-country horse I have ever had, with more scope and heart then any horse I have ever sat on, and there is no way that he would have jumped into that fence unless he thought that he was supposed to and had just misread it. 

This is not the first time this year that an experienced, talented horse has misread and jumped into one of these open oxers and that the horse and rider have both been seriously injured. Sadly, on this occasion my wonderful Cooley had to pay the price with his life.

I feel that perhaps the FEI and national federations need to think about how wide an open rail oxer can and should be, and perhaps beyond a certain width they should be made as a table or be ascending? Just because a fence is pinned does not mean that it should be pushing the boundaries of what horses can understand. Just one honest and experienced horse misunderstanding and losing his life is too many in my opinion.

I hope that I am not alone in feeling this way, and perhaps if anything can come of this horrible tragedy, it can been some change and some consideration of these particular fences. My broken heart hurts so much more then my broken neck and I cannot imagine going home and not seeing my gorgeous grey boy over the door. #RIPCooley