A talented young amateur equestrian from Long Island died in a freak jumping-competition accident upstate — crushed to death by her own horse when the animal fell on top of her.
Rebecca “Becca” Weissbard, 22, of Manorville, was pronounced dead Wednesday at the scene of the Horse Shows in the Sun jumping competition in Saugerties, officials told the dailyfreeman.com.
She was thrown to the ground when her horse, named “Remember Me,” hit the cross pole while trying to clear the second hurdle in a 10-hurdle course, the Web site reported. The horse then stumbled and fell on Weissbard.
The rider’s mother, Lynn, had been watching from the sidelines, and was the first person to rush to her aid, the Web site reported.
On-site EMTs were joined by arriving paramedics in trying to resuscitate Weissbard, but failed.
“Rebecca rode with passion,” the distraught mother told Newsday Friday. She and Weissbard’s father, Eric, own the Sundance Stables in Manorville.
“She spoke with passion about horses and she competed at the highest level and did it with grace and polish,” the mom said.
Earlier in the day, Weissbard had ridden the same horse to a first-place victory in another jumping event at the competition, her mother told Newsday (paywall).
Weissbard’s grandmother, Rochelle, told Newsday that her only grandchild will always be in her heart.
“She was joyful. She was strong, confident and she was a champion in everything that she did,” the grandmother said.
“There was nothing that she feared.”
An avid amateur jumper, Weissbard had won an individual gold medal at the 2013 Maccabiah Games in Israel.
She helped her US show-jumping team win a silver medal.
“Everybody looked up to her,” friend and fellow rider Julianna Schaefer told Newsday.
“She was truly amazing,” said Schaefer, 20, of Patchogue. “She could ride or fix any horse out there and will be truly missed.”
A remembrance vigil was planned for 8 p.m. Saturday at a riding ring at the family’s stables — “with the jumps set up at Becca’s height,” the family posted on Facebook.
“I encourage each and every one of you in this community to ride on for Becca,” Cliff Schadt, a member of the tight-knit Long Island equestrian community, posted on a remembrance page on Facebook Friday.
“Remember Becca as I do, riding tall and pretty, connected with her horses, a smile on her face.”