U.S. Olympic dressage rider Guenter Seidel fractured his pelvis in a riding accident on Sunday, June 13, in Rosendahl, Germany. Seidel, 49, had just arrived in Germany, where he was preparing for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games with Klaus Balkenhol.
Dressage-News.com reported that Seidel, of Cardiff, Calif., was aboard Dick and Jane Brown’s UII when the 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding began to buck. Seidel was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident.
After Seidel fell, an ambulance was immediately called to the scene, and Seidel was transported to a local hospital. MRI and CT scans confirmed the broken pelvis. Seidel then moved to the University Clinic in Münster, Germany, where he underwent surgery. He is expected to make a full recovery.
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Seidel will be unable to ride in this year’s WEG selection trials, to be held in Gladstone, N.J., in August.
Seidel is a three-time Olympic bronze medalist and two-time World Equestrian games medalist, winning the team silver at Jerez in 2002 and the team bronze at Aachen in 2006.
