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Equine Related News and Views

 

Duke of Edinburgh hurts ankle in Windsor as ponies bolt

by from BBC news site - 15:50 on 03 May 2010
Prince Philip at the Royal Windsor Show in May 2005
Philip's sporting passion lives on in the form of carriage driving

Prince Philip, 88, was with a female groom when their ponies ran away and the carriage hit a tree stump.

He suffered bruising and did not need to go to hospital but the groom was treated for an elbow injury.

Earlier this month, his daughter-in-law, the Duchess of Cornwall, fractured her leg while hill-walking in Scotland.

Sporting injury

A spokeswoman said: "The duke has a minor injury to his ankle and did not need hospital treatment. He has been out and about as normal this afternoon."

It is not known which ankle is affected.

She added the ponies involved were all recovered unharmed.

The duke is a competitive carriage driver, having taken up the sport in 1971.

He has represented Britain at several European and World championships and continues to compete in four-in-hand carriage driving with his team of Fell ponies.

[Prince Philip] has had several quite bad injuries carriage driving where the carriage has actually turned over
Ingrid Seward

Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty Magazine, told the BBC that the duke was at the "top of his tree" in the business.

She said the duke's ponies were "quite spirited" and they were used to racing around bends.

She expected the duke had been practising for competitions and what had happened could have happened to anyone.

But she said: "You can sustain quite a nasty injury like that. He has had several quite bad injuries carriage driving where the carriage has actually turned over."

Prince Philip has had several sports-related medical problems. While a polo player, he developed arthritis in his right wrist and synovitis, a rheumatoid condition of the tendon in the hand.

He also broke a bone in his left ankle while playing the game in 1961, while three years later he pulled a ligament in his left shoulder after falling from his pony.

In 2005, he bruised his left eye after slipping in the bath and in 2008, he was hospitalised because of a chest infection.

Most recently, in 2009, the duke was forced to miss engagements because of a back injury sustained while driving a horse and carriage.

He is set to attend an official function in Bray in Berkshire on Saturday.

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