morning, bound for England where she hopes to put the pieces of her career back together following last week's tragic death of Bermuda's Gold.

Tumbridge's 14-year-old mare, on which she struck Pan-Am gold in Winnipeg a year ago, was destroyed after suffering a badly fractured hind leg at the second fence of last Thursday's Olympic cross-country.

And while it had been expected that the 36-year-old Bermudian would remain in Sydney for a few days, she and her coach and groom, Patrick and Amanda Rolfe, apparently decided they would be more comfortable back in the familiar surroundings of their Surrey farm.

Still distraught over the death of the horse which she called "my best friend'', Tumbridge returned to the Games Village for a couple of hours on Friday evening to say her farewells.

But members of the Bermuda delegation here said she still wasn't ready to talk publicly about her loss.

"She was very, very quiet which is not like her,'' said chef d'equipe Joan Taplin, who spent the weekend settling affairs and packing up equipment at the Sydney Equestrian Centre.

"She didn't want to talk. She was just very miserable. And I think that's understandable.

"But she will be riding again soon. This is her life. These upsets do happen and this one is more severe than most but she will go on.'' It remains to be seen, however, whether Tumbridge will concentrate her efforts on Tunes of Glory, the mount she had chosen as a back-up for Bermuda's Gold but which was ultimately left behind in England because of the high cost of transporting a second horse to Sydney.

"It (Tunes of Glory) doesn't belong to her,'' explained Taplin. "It was only on lease to be the back-up mount. But she's the only one she has who's qualified to compete in the big events.

"But at heart she's a competition girl, and when she gets over this, she wants to continue riding in competitions.'' EQUESTRIAN RAH