Sadie Smith and River Rise Onassis Win Dressage Title One Year After Motorway Accident

Sadie Smith and the seven-year-old mare River Rise Onassis have won the KBIS young horse test for seven-year-olds with a score of 81.17% at the 2026 National Dressage Championships. The victory marks a remarkable comeback, taking place almost exactly a year after a severe horsebox accident nearly claimed the mare's life on the journey home from the same event.

The accident occurred last September on the M6 motorway as Sue Garrard, the owner of the mare known as "Sassy," was driving her home from the championships. The horsebox was hit from behind during atrocious weather conditions featuring driving rain, squally gusts, and standing water.

The impact sent the vehicle fishtailing before it toppled over and skidded across all three lanes of the motorway. While Garrard escaped largely unhurt through the passenger window, Sassy was left trapped inside surrounded by sharp metal and broken fibreglass, panicking each time a vehicle passed by, leading her owner to fear at the time that the mare had died.