Elizabeth Hart had caught horses in a field thousands of times before, but on May 9, 2023, that daily task went horribly wrong. The horse she was catching took off and kicked out as he did, and his hoof made contact with the right side of her face.

“I was just in close range and just wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.

Though the professional dressage rider doesn’t remember much of the incident, she luckily was found almost immediately, then transported by helicopter to nearby UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

“I broke most of the bones in my face, my jaw in three places, and then multiple fractures on all the little bones surrounding your face, lost a couple teeth, but no brain injury,” she said. “That was a huge positive. I’m sure I had a concussion but nothing serious, so that was the luckiest part for sure.”

Though she’d been spared a traumatic brain injury, the damage to Hart’s skull was extensive. She required surgery to put eight plates in her face. She spent two days intubated and sedated and was hospitalized for a total of eight days. For seven weeks, her jaw was wired shut, necessitating a liquid diet. The process was intense, she said, but was aided by her doctors preparing her mentally, giving her the worst-case scenario timeline, so when recovery happened faster than expected, it was a pleasant surprise.

“Interestingly, it was almost like I was nervous about it because I hadn’t used my jaw, so I was a little bit of a fear of, ‘Is it going to work?’ ” she said.

Since then she’s had another surgery to remove some of the plates and has started the multi-step process of getting dental implants to replace her lost teeth.

Hart’s doctors told her she couldn’t ride for three months, and she was sure to adhere to their recommendations.

“I’m probably the only equestrian that really listened to my doctors,” Hart said. “I was like, ‘They kept me alive, I’ll give them three months.’ ”

But as soon as that three-month mark hit, she pulled out her clothes, mounted her most well-behaved horse and went for the trail ride. It was the longest she’d ever gone without riding since she’d started, and getting back in the tack made her even more grateful.

“I think one of my biggest fears would’ve been not being able to ride, and I was able to, and pretty soon [after the accident] I knew that would be the case,” she said, “so I think it just highlighted how important it is to me.”

Hart grew up competing in hunters and eventing, but in her late teens and early 20s, she began riding dressage full-time. She earned her U.S. Dressage Federation gold medal in 2014 and now operates her training business Elizabeth Hart Dressage out of Southern Pines, North Carolina.

The local dressage community came to her rescue when she was hospitalized.

“A bunch of people stepped up so much for me and have done so much for me, did a fundraiser which was super helpful, and a bunch of my instructors here and local peers took over teaching lessons for me,” she said. “It was more than I could ask for and incredibly helpful to just have that feeling of being able to breathe and heal and not have to worry so much about my business and what was going to happen. Because, you know, as equestrians we’re all self-employed, so there’s not usually someone to fall back on, so that was incredible. People who I’m friendly with stepped up way above and beyond, and people who I know for years did so much to help me. I think that really helped me get better faster.”

Though she has done a couple of schooling shows since her accident, Hart’s first time down centerline in a bigger environment was in March, as the test rider for the CCI4*-S at Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International aboard John Burgess’ Butch Cassidy. The 15-year-old Spanish Thoroughbred (Aventyno—Kaelia De Pen Ar Wern, Valespoir Malabry), evented up to the three-star level with Will Coleman before Burgess purchased “Newman” as a lower-level partner.

Hart has helped Burgess with the gelding for several years, but had never shown the gelding herself, though Newman has competed up to Prix St. Georges with another rider. At the beginning of the year, Hart got the ride on the gelding. Since Carolina, Hart and Newman have made their recognized-show debut at fourth level.

“He’s a really nice horse, and he’s super capable, so it’s been a lot of fun,” she said. “I think he prefers the dressage life as compared to the jumping life any longer.”

Do you know a horse or rider who returned to the competition ring after what should have been a life-threatening or career-ending injury or illness? Email Kimberly at kloushin@coth.com with their story.