Army Rider To Compete At Grand Military Gold Cup Three Months After Breaking His Back

An Army Corporal who broke his back on a ride just three months ago will compete at the Grand Military Gold Cup this week.

Corporal Nathan Rahman was involved in 30 rides last year but suffered his injury during an event in Clifton on Dunsmore.

In the point-to-point meeting, he was unseated mid-race and trampled on by the competitors leading to serious back injuries.

He said: "I fell whilst pointing and fractured my back in three places.

"I was very determined and a very stubborn individual so I was back on a horse within three weeks.

"Fortunately, I passed my assessment to get my license and was lucky to race again after five weeks and six days. I was racing two horses that day."

Cpl Rahman is the first soldier from the Royal Welsh regiment to take part in the Grand Military Gold Cup and says he is grateful to his trainer Seamus Mullins.

He said: "There’s a long tradition and history with Seamus Mullins. They have put through quite a lot of military riders.

"It’s all well and good saying you can ride but you need someone who can back you and say here’s the keys to my Ferrari, go and take it for a spin.

"Seamus is brilliant. He has bought me on leaps and bounds."

In terms of the race itself, Cpl Rahman is aiming high and hopes to use the result to propel himself into the next level.

"I would like to win at least one of the races this season and potentially place in most of them," he says.

"I’m trying to get up to that next level to be competitive against the professionals.

"I’m still classified as an amateur currently but my aim is to be up there battling against the big boys."

Meanwhile, Lietenant Colonel Erica Bridge is a veteran of the Grand Military Gold Cup and won the race in 2016.

She spoke about the mix of emotions when competing at the event.

"I think when you get in there, there is an awful lot of nerves that you have to try and keep at bay," she says.

"You might never have sat on that horse before. It sometimes happens like that.

“My first winner, I met the horse in the paddock and was looking for the number because that is as much as I knew about it.

“Once you are at the start, the adrenaline really does take over and it is a huge rush.

"There is just nothing like it. You are travelling at 30mph over these big fences and you are sort of on a four-legged airplane.

"It’s absolutely immense."