competition that ultimately claimed the life of her horse, Bermuda's Gold.

But the Island's celebrated equestrienne has been heartened by the messages of condolence that have flooded in from friends and well wishers across Bermuda, according to one of her closest friends.

Tumbridge is back in Surrey, England where she is attempting to pick up the pieces following the incident during the cross country phase of the Three-Day Event in Sydney when her mount fell and shattered its left hind leg. Unable to relive the moments then and since herself, her groom and friend Amanda Rolfe, on whose farm she lives and who witnessed the tragedy, spoke to The Royal Gazette .

Rolfe said Tumbridge was still considering whether she had a future in equestrianism and the rider had pulled out of a three-day event she had been scheduled to enter in Holland next week.

Continued on page 21 Sad MJ so grateful for messages of condolence Continued from page 19 And Rolfe described the MJ's sorrow during the sad events which led to the death of Bermuda's Gold in Sydney.

Speaking of the moments immediately after the fall, Rolfe said: "The horse was taken to the veterinary centre at the Olympic Park which was very close by and was staffed by a team of top international vets.

"They X-rayed the leg and discussed amongst themselves what they thought might be the best option. One of the surgeons was a top orthopaedic surgeon from California, a leading light in the repair of fractures to horses.

"He came and spoke to MJ and at that time he said there was an option of surgery and that the chances of success were about 20 percent. The problem was that there would be complications in the recovery which meant although the operation might go well, somewhere down the line in the recovery the horse might not make it.'' Further consultations took place with vets on a global scale and Tumbridge was then informed a successful recovery was rated at less than 10 percent.

"At that point MJ consulted her vet in England,'' Rolfe said. "She called him and also consulted the US team vet and after conversation with them she was strongly advised...that it was very unwise to proceed with any sort of operation.'' Tumbridge then went to visit Bermuda's Gold and seeing the distress the horse was in it became clear the best way forward was to have it put down.

"She wanted more than anything to save the horse,'' Rolfe said. "The first thing she said when I got down onto the course was `Don't let them put the horse down'.'' The decision was made even more painful because the 2000 Olympics were meant to be Bermuda's Gold's swansong.

"Putting the horse down was the last thing any of us wanted because it had always been the intention to retire the horse after the Olympics and for her to come home to the farm in England and to be bred,'' Rolfe said.

The horse was taken away from the competition venue and Tumbridge was given a chance to say a final goodbye.

"The vets didn't want the horse to be put down at the Olympic site because of the press coverage and she was taken to another site 10 minutes away.

"MJ had some time to stand with the horse who wasn't in any pain because she had been given pain killers. She was just grazing and quite relaxed and MJ spent some time with her before she was put down,'' Rolfe said.

There was no criticism of the course despite there being several accidents at the venue during the event.

"I think this was just a sheer accident. We don't really know why it happened,'' Rolfe said. "For some reason the way the horse put her foot down on the ground at that moment and the speed she was going caused the fracture.

But I don't think there was any criticism of the surface -- it was just a very, very unfortunate accident.'' After going back to the venue the day after, Tumbridge, Rolfe and her husband Patrick returned to England.

"We went back to Olympic site the following day to pack up the horse's belongings which was quite a difficult time and after that MJ was very keen to leave,'' Rolfe said.

On their return messages from Bermuda arrived regularly as news of the tragedy spread.

Rolfe said: "MJ has received an enormous number of faxes and emails -- a lot of them from people in Bermuda -- and one thing she has said to me over and over again is that it is a comfort for her to know that people in Bermuda recognise the horse and loved the horse for what she was and she hopes the horse will never be forgotten.'' Tumbridge has been back in the saddle since, though she is not yet ready to return to competition.

"She has been riding horses at home here since she got back, but she was planning to go to a three-day event in Holland next week which she is not going to go to. It is too soon to say whether or not she is going to continue in the sport at that level,'' Rolfe said.

"It's a struggle to be in the sport anyway, it's incredibly hard work and when you get a knock back like that it's very hard to know what you are going to do next. I think she is finding it very hard to move on from what's happened at the moment. "When you have been in horses a long time, you do lose them along the way but nothing like this. Bermuda's Gold was a particularly special horse and it really has been quite devastating for her.''