Louise Saywell

DESPITE nearly three decades in the saddle, Louise Saywell had never broken a bone until a few weeks ago. The bandage she is wearing on her left hand marks not only her first “serious” injury – albeit a small one – but also the first enforced break from riding she’s had in a career that’s kept her busy since the age of eight.

“I didn’t even fall off!” she informs me over FaceTime. “I was on a five-year-old and it spun round and my hand went into its neck. Normally I would stay on but I had to get off because of the pain.

“When I think of some of the falls I’ve had where I’ve thought I must have done something, but nothing has happened... and then I broke my hand like that.”

ALTHOUGH Louise, 30, secured her first international successes half her lifetime ago, her approach