A BRITISH international horsewoman died yesterday after an accident at a championship three-day event in the Borders.

Polly Phillips, 30, was killed after she was hit by her mount, Coral Cove, in a horrific fall on the final day of competition at the Scottish Open Championships at Thirlestane Castle, near Lauder.

The chestnut gelding refused what was considered by judges to be one of the easier jumps, at the tenth fence of the 29-obstacle course.

The horse hit the fence and somersaulted to the ground, landing on the rider who sustained fatal head injuries.

Mrs Phillips, an equine vet from Rempstone, near Loughborough, Leicestershire, was pronounced dead on the spot and the competition was cancelled as a mark of respect. Her horse, which was at the centre of an investigation into alleged doping last year, was uninjured.

Her husband Vere, a horse trader who owns the mount, was in Ireland looking at horses at the time of his wife's death.

The accident was witnessed by the Princess Royal's former husband, Mark Phillips, who was tracking the rider's progress through his binoculars. He has given a statement to the International Equestrian Federation.

Remaining riders, including Scotland's Olympic silver medalist and Badminton winner Ian Stark - an international teammate of Mrs Phillips - were stunned by the tragedy and packed up and went home.

Mr Stark last night paid tribute to his fellow-competitor. ''It is very difficult to take in. It's incredibly sad,'' he said. ''Polly was a very talented girl. She has always been very, very gutsy and an incredible competitor.

''She has had some fantastic successes over the years. We are all aware that what we do is a very high risk sport, and Polly was as aware of it as anyone.''

A fellow competitor, Caroline Powell, said: ''Everybody feels completely whitewashed by it all. It is such a shame, but it's a risk

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that you take when you go eventing. It's a high-risk activity.''

An estimated 12,000 enthusiasts had packed the beautiful parkland at Thirlestane Castle, former home of the Earls of Lauderdale, to watch the event.

Thirlestane's owner, Mr Gerald Maitland-Carew, who is chairman of the organising committee, said last night: ''This was an appalling tragedy. The paramedics were on the spot instantly but there was nothing they could do.

''The accident happened at a pretty straightforward fence. Polly was going fast but went into the jump perfectly.

''She expected the horse to take off but it lost its stride and went down.

''There were two stewards at the fence and we have four doctors on the course. The medics were there incredibly quickly.

''I immediately took the decision to cancel the rest of the competition. We could not do anything else in the circumstances.''

Mr Tony Hogarth, the director of the course, said: ''Everyone is deeply shocked by this appaling accident. It is our eighteenth year at Thirlestane and we have never had a death before or even a serious injury.''

The event was attended by the senior judge of the International Equestrian Federation, Lord Carew.

The federation's event technical delegate, Mr John Tulloch, said there would be a full investigation, but added: ''Thirlestane has a reputation as a very well-designed course.

''It was designed by international specialist Ronald Alexander.''

Paying tribute to Mrs Phillips, he said: ''She was an enormously talented rider who had a zest for life and lived for this sport.

''She will be an enormous loss to the British equestrian scene.

''Everyone who takes part in this sport knows it is dangerous. They go into it with their eyes open and tragedies do occasionally occur.

''If half a ton of horse comes down on you, the consequences can clearly be serious.''

Equestrian commentator Antoinette Galbraith, who attended the event, said: ''As soon as they realised she had died, they stopped everything immediately. At first they said there had been an accident and everybody thought 'oh yes', because it so often happens.

''Then they said there would not be anything more on the course in the course of the day.''

She added that the course was not regarded as particularly difficult.

This year's event was particularly significant as it had received international recognition for the first time.

While uncommon, death was no stranger to the sport. ''It does happen once in a while in eventing, but it has never happened at Thirlestane before,'' Miss Galbraith said.

In a separate incident, two women riders were flown to hospital after they were thrown from their horses during the Royal Burgh of Sanquhar's traditional Riding of the Marches ceremony in Dumfriesshire.

The cavalcade, which involved around 100 horses, was held up as help was sought for the injured riders.

One of the riders was named as Mrs Anita Stobbs, from Kirkconnel, who sustained an injured back. The second rider, who was not named, is understood to be from Annan. She sustained head injuries.

An air ambulance was called and the two women were transferred to Dumfries Royal Infirmary for treatment.

March riding chairman Norman Burns said: ''We are hoping that the pair will be all right.

''There was a big turnout and we were all extremely worried when we heard the news. It put a bit of a damper on the proceedings, but we had to go on with the events.''