A TOP young horse rider has taken her first steps on the long road to recovery after being seriously injured in an accident a month ago.

Elliot Furniss

A TOP young horse rider has taken her first steps on the long road to recovery after being seriously injured in an accident a month ago.

Rosie Chinery, 18, is one of Britain's equestrian hopefuls for the 2012 London Olympic Games but was left in a coma after being thrown from her horse during a training session in Newmarket on March 11.

She regained consciousness at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, about 10 days ago and has now started talking to her family.

Her paternal grandfather Aubrey Chinery, who runs a stable yard in Great Yeldham, Essex, said he was hugely relieved to see her moving her arms and legs and to hear her voice once again.

He said: “She keeps telling everybody she's 'coming out tomorrow' but I keep telling her she will be coming one morrow, but I don't know which one.

“She can still crack a little joke.”

Mr Chinery, 73, said he arrived at the hospital last Monday and as he leaned in to hear if she could speak, she stunned him by saying “hello granddad”.

He said: “The doctors reckon that her progress in the last week has been enormous. They say she's done extremely well.

“We have another chap who rides for us who broke his leg in three places last Friday while in Newmarket and he went to Addenbrooke's too.

“He went in to see her (Rosie) and she said 'I bet I'm back in the saddle before you' - she's so determined that she's going to get back.”

Mr Chinery said that to see Rosie moving about again and recognising her family was a “miracle” and they all owed a lot of thanks to the staff at the hospital.

Meanwhile, Rosie's maternal grandmother Teresa Skilton has been posting regular updates about her recovery on the Horse and Hound website, popular with other riders.

In her most recent post, left on Saturday, Mrs Skilton said she was “thrilled” by Rosie's progress, which is being helped by regular physiotherapy sessions.

She wrote: “Today she was having her physio session when we arrived so we watched for a bit and she is much steadier than yesterday.

“She managed with very little difficulty to eat three Waitrose profiteroles and her speech is much less slurred.”

Hundreds of people have responded to the posts on the website forum and sent their support to Rosie and her family.

Rosie is one of the country's most promising point to point and three day event jockeys and has recently been selected for the England Under-21 squad.

She lives in Toppesfield, a small village near Great Yeldham, with her parents Paul and Karen and brother William, 15.