Wife of former national coach dies in horse riding accident
Matthew Vella
The wife of the former national football team coach Pippo Psaila yesterday died in an unfortunate horse-riding accident at Maghtab.
Jenny Psaila, née Swain, 50, the mother of two sons Neil and Simon, was out horse-riding at 8:30 am when all of a sudden, her horse bolted. Psaila fell from the horse and died on the spot. Magistrate Michael Mallia is leading the inquiry into the incident. A keen rider, Psaila was reported to have just returned from a long sailing holiday. Horse-riding was a daily activity for Psaila, who was training in show-jumping.
Her contribution to horse-riding in Malta was marked by her active support for Malta’s membership in the Federation Equestre Internationale.
This had also been Psaila’s third horse after her first horse had to be put down, while the second had been hit by a truck.
Condolences came in from all major political parties. The PN said Mrs Psaila would be remembered as a very active person in sport, and an animal lover, especially of horses.
The Labour Party added that Maltese sport, had within the space of a few days, suffered the loss of another athlete. AD chairperson Arnold Cassola expressed the party’s condolences to the Psaila family.
The Malta Olympic Committee said Mrs Psaila’s death had shocked not only the Malta Equestrian Association but the entire Maltese sporting family. The MOC and national sporting organisations were united in solidarity with Pippo Psaila, who was a former director of the MOC.
Psaila’s incident was the third and most serious of its kind this year. In February, Sarah Borg, 22, was critically injured when she was thrown off her horse at the Marsa racetrack while on in March, a 23-year-old jockey from Pietà was critically injured when she fell off her horse in Qormi.
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A keen rider, Psaila was reported to have just returned from a long sailing holiday. Horse-riding was a daily activity for Psaila, who was training in show-jumping.
