{"id":597507,"date":"2026-09-11T22:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T22:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/597507\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T22:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T22:02:09","slug":"georgie-campbells-death-kiwi-family-launches-charity-to-install-safer-cross-country-horse-jumps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/597507\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgie Campbell\u2019s death: Kiwi family launches charity to install safer cross-country horse jumps"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Devon coroner would later rule that the 36-year-old\u2019s death in May 2024 was the result of a \u201cterrible, tragic accident involving a much-loved woman who died participating in the sport she loved\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now Jesse Campbell\u2019s parents, Matamata couple Ezra and Craig, want to make sense of the family\u2019s grief by ensuring no other New Zealand family has to endure the pain of loss from what they say could be a preventable accident. <\/p>\n

They want to see safer frangible (collapsible) jumps fitted at equestrian centres throughout New Zealand to reduce the risk of rotational falls \u2013 when a horse somersaults or flips over after hitting a solid jump, often landing on the rider. <\/p>\n

\"JesseJesse Campbell and his then girlfriend Jessie Strang in 2018 at the Luhmuehlen International Horse Trials in Germany. Photo \/ Libby Law <\/p>\n

In July this year, two UK women died on the same day at separate events after suffering rotational falls. And earlier this year a young New Zealand rider suffered a concussion and a fractured pelvis from a rotational fall at the National Equestrian Centre at Taup\u014d. <\/p>\n

The Campbells have launched a charity, the All Together Safer NZ Eventing Charitable Trust (ATSE), to help fund Swedish-engineered MiMSafe clips to be fitted to jumps, starting with a $450,000 pilot scheme to install 80 frangible jumps at the National Equestrian Centre. <\/p>\n

The MiMSafe clips fold the jump forward if it\u2019s hit by the horse, helping to prevent deadly rotational falls. The horse might stumble but is likely to recover rather than somersaulting and landing on the rider. <\/p>\n

ATSE\u2019s pilot scheme at Taup\u014d will also include tubbed plants, which help the horses (with monocular vision) to sight the jumps accurately; watering systems; the structure, or chassis, built beneath the jumps; security fencing; and equipment to install the jumps. <\/p>\n

Rotational falls can occur at any level of cross-country eventing. Georgie was an experienced, top-level show rider before switching to eventing, representing the UK multiple times and competing in five-star events, the highest level, in the UK and Europe. <\/p>\n

\"GeorgieGeorgie Campbell competing in the cross-country event at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials in the UK in 2022. Photo \/ Ryan Pierse, Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jesse Campbell, 37, had not long returned from the Burghley Horse Trials in Lincolnshire when he spoke to the Herald from his home in Surrey this week. He remembers the moment of Georgie\u2019s accident vividly. About to compete at Bicton himself, he was watching his wife on livestream when he saw Global Quest hit a solid jump, somersault into the air and land heavily on his back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it was bad straight away.\u201d <\/p>\n

But he also remembers a happier moment, the day he met Georgie in 2017 at the Military Boekelo three-day event in Holland where they were both competing. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were at a barbecue … and a very beautiful girl sat down next to me, and I thought, \u2018I think I\u2019ll marry this girl\u2019 and that\u2019s the way it came to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" Georgie and Jesse Campbell on their wedding day in Wiltshire in the UK in December 2020.<\/p>\n

Campbell\u2019s favourite photo of his wife was one taken on their wedding day in 2020, just four years before she died. Her smile, he says, would make him feel like he was the centre of the universe. <\/p>\n

\u2018She was a very, very special person\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cShe just had this incredible energy about her. People just gravitated towards her and she always had time for them. She was a very, very special person.\u201d <\/p>\n

Campbell wrote on Instagram after his wife\u2019s death: \u201cShe would get as much joy from having a Greggs tea on the way home from the gallops as she would teaching a client in the pouring rain, or jumping and galloping around the biggest courses in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JesseJesse and Georgie Campbell after a fishing trip in the Hokianga during a trip to New Zealand in 2021.<\/p>\n

Being with horses helped him get through the tough weeks and months that lay ahead. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re incredible animals,\u201d he wrote, \u201ckind, generous and very good at dealing with me being quite teary at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and Georgie were based at her family\u2019s farm in Kent where they planned to build a top-class riding school, stables and arena. But there were too many memories; Georgie and her smile just around every corner. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really feel like doing that myself, you know, that was our dream.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer Olympic rider Jesse Campbell and his wife Georgie on their wedding day in 2020. Photo \/ Instagram<\/p>\n

Seven months after his wife died, Campbell moved to a client\u2019s property in Oxted, Surrey, and established an eventing yard. <\/p>\n

\"JesseJesse Campbell representing New Zealand in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in August 2021. The games were postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo \/ Kenji Demura, www.photosport.nz <\/p>\n

He and Georgie\u2019s sister, Jo Strang, founded the Georgie Campbell Foundation which aims to improve the safety of the sport and provide scholarships for up-and-coming riders. Campbell lists what the trustees will look for: riders with a strong work ethic, humble, a love of horses and talented. He\u2019s effectively describing his late wife. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would a young Georgie need?\u201d he says of the mentoring and support the scholarships will provide. <\/p>\n

Campbell is proud of the efforts his parents are making to raise funds to improve cross-country safety in New Zealand in their daughter-in-law\u2019s memory. He\u2019d like to see more cross-country jumps designed so that frangible pins can be included on different styles. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that when you have that moment of mistake or error from either party that it doesn\u2019t result in a fatality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" Georgie and Jesse Campbell riding together in the UK. Photo \/ Libby Law<\/p>\n

Ezra Campbell says safety equipment like frangible clips and inflatable air jackets are similar to airbags and seatbelts in a car. They won\u2019t stop accidents occurring, but they will save lives. <\/p>\n

At the time of Georgie\u2019s death, the jump that caused her rotational fall could not be fitted with a frangible pin because of its design. Her accident was witnessed by a European course designer who has since worked closely with the Swedish manufacturers of MiMSafe to work out how to incorporate the frangible clips into solid jumps involving big logs and \u201ctable tops\u201d. <\/p>\n

As a result, a combination of science, design and technology will help mitigate the risk. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe “chassis” construction beneath an equestrian cross-country jump showing the inclusion of frangible pins that help the top of the jump roll forward if it is hit by the horse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that risk is part of sport but preventable risk never should be,\u201d Ezra Campbell says. She still mourns the loss of her daughter-in-law, describing Georgie as \u201cthe most gorgeous person\u201d.<\/p>\n

The couple flew to the UK to watch their son compete in the Burghley Horse Trials in September 2024, where he blew a kiss to the sky after finishing the course. <\/p>\n

A woman introduced herself to the Campbells, telling them she was at Bicton the day Georgie died. The woman told them she had watched Georgie walk hand-in-hand with Jesse to the show jumping arena shortly before she was to compete.<\/p>\n

She told Ezra: \u201cThey were watching the show jumping and just standing there hand in hand and I remember thinking \u2018if I could have a smidgen of what those two have I\u2019d be a very happy person.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Less than an hour later, Georgie was gone. <\/p>\n

Last year Jesse was awarded an Against the Odds award by Equestrian Sport New Zealand at its gala dinner in Parliament House to celebrate the organisation\u2019s 75th anniversary. The Campbells flew to Wellington to accept the award on their son\u2019s behalf. <\/p>\n

\"CraigCraig and Ezra Campbell, of Matamata, receiving an Against the Odds award on behalf of their son, former Olympic rider Jesse Campbell, in Wellington in 2025 at the 75th anniversary dinner of Equestrian Sports New Zealand. Photo \/ ESNZ<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very brave thing for Equestrian Sport New Zealand to do,\u201d Ezra Campbell says, \u201cbecause it was a night of celebration for them and here was this award which came about because of how Jesse had picked up and kept going, and kept the sport in a positive light.\u201d<\/p>\n

That night the couple talked to a course designer about safety on cross-country courses. They soon realised that the equestrian world wanted and needed more frangible pins but lack of funding was an issue. <\/p>\n

The Campbells decided to launch a charity to fix that problem. To date they\u2019ve raised $115,000 towards the $450,000 target, launching a Givealittle page to help boost funds. <\/p>\n

After Taup\u014d, they want to see more frangible clips incorporated into all cross-country courses throughout New Zealand to protect riders. <\/p>\n

Ezra Campbell wants young Kiwi riders at all levels of eventing not to have to worry about whether or not a jump is safe. <\/p>\n

\u201cTheir whole concentration should be their pony or their horse. It\u2019s about us, the parents, the volunteers, the organisers. We\u2019re the ones who have to be looking at what we can do better with safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horses, too, can be injured or killed from rotational falls although Global Quest, the Irish horse ridden by Georgie on the day of her fall, was uninjured. The horse competed this month at the Burghley Horse Trials, ridden by top New Zealander eventer Tim Price as a tribute to his late friend. <\/p>\n

Equestrian Sports New Zealand CEO Julian Bowden described Georgie\u2019s accident as an \u201cabsolute tragedy\u201d that had led to significant changes in the way cross-country fences are designed and built.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an absolute focus on safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Federation Equestre Internationale, the international governing body for equestrian sports, has led the way with ongoing developments around fence design and building techniques to improve safety for both horses and athletes, he says. <\/p>\n

\u2018I wouldn\u2019t be sitting in a wheelchair\u2019<\/p>\n

Dame Catriona Williams understands better than most the dangers of a horse hitting a non-frangible jump at speed. She\u2019s spent the past 24 years in a wheelchair after suffering a rotational fall at the Kihikihi Horse Trails in Hamilton in 2002. Her horse cartwheeled over a fence, causing Williams, now a tetraplegic, to break her neck. She was 31 at the time. <\/p>\n

\"CatrionaCatriona Williams on her horse Win For Me at a cross-country jump at the Badminton Horse Trials, UK, in 1999.<\/p>\n

Williams, 55, says she is \u201cso proud\u201d of the Campbells and the effort they have put into making cross-country events safer. She\u2019s now patron of the Campbell\u2019s charitable trust, and Auckland businesswoman Anna Mowbray is an ambassador. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf these jumps had had the frangible pins, there\u2019s a very high chance that I wouldn\u2019t be sitting in a wheelchair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams is the first to support riders who want the challenge of cross-country riding, part of a three-day event that includes dressage in an arena and show jumping. <\/p>\n

Speed and bravery is involved, something Kiwi riders are renowned for. She points to Olympic medal earners Mark Todd, Blyth Tait, Andrew Nicholson and Vaughn Jefferis.<\/p>\n

\"SirSir Mark Todd in action at the World Equestrian Games. Photo \/ Libby Law Photography<\/p>\n

But she also wants young riders coming up through the ranks to be safer with the installation of frangible jumps. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not taking away the challenge, but it\u2019s making the sport safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young Auckland event rider Mackenzie Marlo, 21, agrees, saying that although some MiMSafe clips have already been installed at various cross-country courses she has ridden in New Zealand she\u2019d like to see more. <\/p>\n

Marlo has activated MiMSafe clips a few times which means her horse has hit the top of the jump. She hasn\u2019t suffered a bad accident but she\u2019s aware of others who have. <\/p>\n

She\u2019s well aware of the ongoing sadness around Georgie\u2019s accident, having spent eight weeks on work experience at Jesse Campbell\u2019s eventing yard in Surrey last year. <\/p>\n

\" Auckland eventer Mackenzie Marlo taking a cross-country jump at the National Equestrian Centre in Taup\u014d in October 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are always risks with the sport that we do, but it\u2019s really exciting now that there is technology to potentially minimise these risks to some degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past five years, equestrian-related claims have cost ACC nearly $109 million. Around 3300 claims are made each year and nearly 90% of those are women. One in three claims involves a rider between the age of 10 and 19 years. <\/p>\n

In the first six months of 2026, ACC received 1809 new claims and handled 3171 active claims. Costs to July were more than $12m which did not include bulk-funded services, including ambulances and acute treatment in public hospitals. (ACC\u2019s bulk-funding costs last year for all injury claims, not just horse riding, was more than $1 billion.) <\/p>\n

Williams is an advocate of anything that will make the sport safer, including air vests, with a lanyard attached to the saddle so that if a rider falls, the vest will automatically inflate. <\/p>\n

Both the frangible pins and the air vests are examples of how technology can help make the sport safer, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would you not have frangible pins? They\u2019ve been developed, it\u2019s been proven … get behind it and back it. They weren\u2019t around when I had my accident.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"DameDame Catriona Williams with Sir Mark Todd and his wife Carolyn at an Auckland event to promote the CatWalk Trust in 2019. Photo \/Libby Law Photography <\/p>\n

Williams still has horses in her life because her husband Sam runs horse-breeding stud Little Avondale in Masterton. But she still needs a carer to get her out of bed, toileted, showered and dressed every day. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the cost to the Government because I\u2019m in a wheelchair or someone else is in a wheelchair?\u201d<\/p>\n

She and a group of friends launched the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust after her accident, partnering with the University of Auckland. To date the trust has raised more than $28m towards spinal cord injury research. And it\u2019s raised a further $8.5m towards a target of $10.5m for the CatWalk Cure Program, a collaboration of international research involving five different areas of cure for spinal injury. <\/p>\n

\"DameDame Catriona Williams in her handcycle, with family friend Tommy How, cycling 1100km from Scotland to London in the Cycle4Caroline team to raise funds for spinal research in 2024. Event rider Caroline March died earlier that year, two years after she suffered spinal injuries during cross-country riding.<\/p>\n

On December 30 this year, Williams will set off on a mammoth 4800km handcycle journey across the US from Carlsbad, California, to Jacksonville, Florida, to raise funds for spinal cord injury research. <\/p>\n

Williams says she would give anything to be able to stand up and dance again with Sam. The research into cures might not benefit her in time, she says, but it will benefit others in wheelchairs and with neurological conditions. <\/p>\n

Jane Phare is a senior journalist based in Auckland. Her roles at the Herald have included assistant editor of NZ Herald, editor of the Weekend Herald, founding editor of Viva, features editor and deputy print editor.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Devon coroner would later rule that the 36-year-old\u2019s death in May 2024 was the result of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1081,74,15555,74701,1977,8414,247421,190958,634,36203,15972,2109,183151,305,2883,14568,73975,40148,17090,194,1739,11556,9066,16768,300,111,139,69,5270,193,2850,17145,25530,6302,213,165,61,11787,1533],"class_list":["post-597507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-accident","tag-after","tag-campbell","tag-campbells","tag-charity","tag-couple","tag-crosscountry","tag-daughterinlaw","tag-death","tag-endure","tag-equipment","tag-family","tag-georgie","tag-have","tag-hope","tag-horse","tag-horseriding","tag-install","tag-jumps","tag-kiwi","tag-launches","tag-losing","tag-loved","tag-matamata","tag-money","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-one","tag-other","tag-pain","tag-raising","tag-safer","tag-safety","tag-sports","tag-their","tag-to","tag-tragic","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}