Two €˜Hip Ops' won't keep Meg out of the saddle

A 66-year-old horse-riding enthusiast who has had two hip replacement operations in less than a year is back in the saddle.

It was just 12 weeks ago when Meg Bennell had her second replacement but, as she ‘mucks out’ the stable of her medal-winning dressage pony Prospect Poppy, she is counting down the days to when she can start competing again.

Megan BennalMeg, of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, “I promised my surgeon I will wait until three whole months after my last operation before I rode again but, I have to admit, the day couldn’t come soon enough.

“The first time back on the saddle was fantastic and I had no problems with either of my hips.”

Meg first noticed a pain in her right hip while competing in a dressage event in June 2012. By Christmas of that year she had to stop riding altogether, and by February 2013 she couldn’t even do jobs around the stable.

Her first hip replacement was carried out at BMI Chiltern Hospital in Great Missenden by Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr Gurdeep Biring and 16 weeks later she and Poppy won a medal at the prestigious Henley on Thames dressage show.

In November she was back at BMI Chiltern where Mr Biring carried out her second hip replacement.

He explained: “It is not unusual for someone to need both hips treating in a short space of time, after all you use both hips equally so why wouldn’t they wear out together.

“However, it is really pleasing to see someone like Meg recovering so well, although I am going to have to be very strict to make sure she doesn’t overdo things.

“There really is no need for people to put up with the pain or give up the things they love when surgical treatments such as hip and knee replacements are available. We can’t turn back the years but, in a vast majority of cases, we can help people have a healthy and active retirement.”

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