Just a year after winning Pan-Am Games gold, the Island's celebrated equestrienne MJ Tumbridge was last night in mourning after Olympic veterinarians were left with no option but to destroy her mare, Bermuda's Gold, the horse she called "my closest friend''.

Tragedy struck at just the second fence of Thursday's cross-country phase of the Three-Day Event when the tiny horse, dubbed by other riders as the smallest in stature but biggest in heart, landed awkwardly, shattering her left hind leg.

Within an hour Bermuda's Gold had been taken by horse ambulance to a special facility some six kilometres outside the Olympic Equestrian Centre.

There, after consultation with Tumbridge, vets decided it would be futile to operate.

Chances of success were reportedly rated at no more than five percent but ultimately it was the distraught 36-year-old Bermudian who made the decision to put the animal to sleep.

Unlike many of the riders here in Sydney, Tumbridge owned the horse and it had been her constant companion for more than ten years.

Yesterday she was being comforted by friends, including Bermuda's chef de mission Phil Guishard, chef d'equipe Joan Taplin and her coach and groom Patrick and Amanda Rolfe on whose farm she lives in Surrey, England.

Several of those in the Bermuda contingent were visibly upset, although all of them grateful that Tumbridge herself had escaped injury in a sport which has claimed the lives of more than half a dozen top riders in the last year alone.

While Bermuda's Gold was the only cross-country fatality of these Games, several horses and riders came to grief on a course which had provided few problems during the team event earlier in the week.

On Thursday, no fewer than nine horses fell and were retired while two competitors were taken to hospital.

It appears, however, that Bermuda's Gold was the victim of a freak accident, landing heavily on the rock-hard ground just seconds after the start.

Tumbridge told Taplin she had heard the mare's leg crack as they landed and immediately dismounted.

Realising the seriousness of the situation, officials temporarily halted the competition until help was summoned. Taplin echoed the sentiments of many when she said: "It's tragic, but we're just so grateful that MJ wasn't hurt.

"Our one big thankful thought is that it wasn't MJ.

MJ mourns for `closest friend' "When you look at two other riders who were squashed under their horses today, it could have been much worse. If it had to happen, I'm glad it was the horse and not MJ.

"She will go on. She has other horses, and she will continue.'' President of Bermuda Olympic Association Austin Woods, who was at the equestrian centre with Sports Minister Dennis Lister and BOA secretary general John Hoskins, when the accident happened, was in a sombre mood yesterday.

"The entire Bermuda delegation shares her loss and we understand her feelings. We are extremely sad for her at this time,'' he said.

Woods and Hoskins were yesterday arranging for Tumbridge and the Rolfes to move out of the Games Village and into a city hotel for the rest of their stay.

Tumbridge had been scheduled to leave Sydney on Saturday, a day after the third and final phase of her competition, the show jumping. But her departure may now be delayed.

Explaining the decision to destroy the horse, Taplin said: "They talked to all the specialist vets here -- the Americans, Irish, British and Australians.

And they all looked at the X-rays, talked among themselves and then talked individually to MJ.

"They gave her plenty of time to decide, and the upshot of it was that, although the operation technically would have been possible, the chances of success were minimal.

"It was MJ's decision and she decided the only fair thing was to put the mare down. She was sedated, she wasn't in any pain.'' "MJ is absolutely devastated, but she did listen to the vets and then took some time to decide. It wasn't a question of minutes, it was a question of hours.'' THE END OF A DREAM -- Despair: MJ Tumbridge (left) is comforted by a teammate as she is helped off the cross-country course after her horse, Bermuda's Gold was injured on the course during the Olympic Individual Three-day Event in Sydney yesterday. Five horses fell on undulating courage and Bermuda's Gold was rushed to a veterinary clinic with a fractured cannon bone.

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