Jul 01, 2014

Amy Barrington Continues to Recover After Traumatic Brain Injury Sustained Last Fall

By Caroline Culbertson - USEA Staff
Barrington smiles during her first time back on a horse with the Therapeutic Riding of Tryon. Photo courtesy of Greg Schlappi.

Event rider and trainer Amy Barrington of Tryon, N.C., has made huge strides in her recovery after sustaining a traumatic brain injury less than a year ago.

Barrington, 52, was hospitalized following a fall from a horse while schooling at home on September 4, 2013. She was wearing a helmet at the time of the fall, but sustained severe bruising and a hematoma on her brain which required surgery. She was placed in a medically-induced coma to help her brain to heal until September 16, 2013.

Now, ten months later, she continues to recover but has resumed many of her normal day-to-day tasks.

“She is doing really well,” reported husband and course designer, Greg Schlappi. “There are still a few things that she is working through. In the first few months, she had a miraculous recovery and things were coming back really fast.

“Now there are a few things lingering. She still has some speech and vision problems but they are improving. We are just impatient.”

Doctors recommended that she wait at least a year from the date of the accident before getting back to riding, although she has been back in the saddle on therapy horses in a highly controlled setting. In the barn, she feeds and cleans like she always has and is also getting back to her students.

“She is teaching a few lessons and everyone that is doing lessons with her says she is spot on and that horse-related words come easily to her,” said Schlappi. “Sometimes other things are difficult for her, to find the words. She knows what she wants to say, but when she can’t find the words, she smiles and laughs and tries not to get frustrated.

“Our son Ben and I are so thrilled to have her home and she is happy and we’re just enjoying having her with us. She enjoys having people around her and she is grinning all the time and having fun.”

Eventers declared themselves part of “Amy’s Tribe” and rallied around Barrington following the accident, holding a multitude of fundraisers and raising tens of thousands of dollars in her name.

“The eventing community is absolutely amazing,” he said. “They literally saved us from bankruptcy. We had no idea we had so many friends through the eventing community.”

Apr 26, 2025 Competitions

The 2025 K3DE Daily: Cross-Country Day

If you are wanting to get a good parking spot at the Kentucky Horse Park this morning, you better be on your way as early as possible! Cross-country day at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event is easily the busiest day the Kentucky Horse Park sees each year, so it's time to grab your coffee and go ensure you get the viewing spot you want for both the CCI4*-S and CCI5*-L divisions today.

Apr 25, 2025 Competitions

2025 K3DE Rider Talk: What Are They Saying About Cross-Country?

Riders in both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L are sharing similar sentiments about this year's cross-country courses: course designer Derek di Grazia didn't play around this year. Here is what some of the riders across both divisions had to say about the tracks they will aim to conquer on Saturday.

Apr 25, 2025 Competitions

Off the Record Breaks Records in Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S at Defender Kentucky

Off The Record decided not to let Michael Jung be the only record-breaking entry at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event this week and delivered a career-best score in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S on Friday morning. He and Will Coleman delivered a test that received a score of 21.8, not only marking a personal best for the horse but also securing their position at the top of the leaderboard going into cross-country tomorrow.

Apr 25, 2025 Competitions

Soaked, but Not Shaken: Boyd Martin Flies the Flag for the U.S. at Defender Kentucky in Second

Boyd Martin and the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 were the last pair to go in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L field on Friday afternoon and were warmly greeted to the bluegrass with an impressive downpour that outshined anything the other horse and rider pairs had to combat throughout the day. But that didn’t stop this pair from putting their best foot forward and impressing the judges enough to earn them a score of 26.0, just 0.2 points ahead of second-place pair Tom McEwen (GBR) and Brookfield Quality.

Official Corporate Sponsors of the USEA

Official Joint Therapy Treatment of the USEA

Official Feed of the USEA

Official Saddle of the USEA

Official Forage of the USEA

Official Competition & Training Apparel of the USEA

Official Horse Boot of the USEA

Official Shock Wave of the USEA

Official Horse Wear of the USEA