Last Friday, Slovenian show jumper Urh Bauman was involved in a fatal accident with his two-horse truck and trailer. One person and two horses lost their lives.

Bauman and his father were driving through France to get to their final destination in Vilamoura, Portugal, when the accident struck about two hours after they had left from their overnight stop in St. Tropez. 

With them, Bauman and his father had three horses: Bauman’s 9-year-old championship horse Larisal (Larimar 7 x Casall), his wife Tina’s 9-year-old Ulla (Lijanero x Paramount) and the 7-year-old Toto (Toulon x Carpaccio). Both Larisal and Ulla lost their lives in the accident, while Toto was taken to a veterinary clinic in France for treatment.

“I’m totally destroyed, I’m at the very bottom,” Bauman tells. “The death of the horses and one human life lost, and on top of that my father is held in France. It is just too much.”

In September, Bauman and Larisal represented Slovenia at the European Championships in Riesenbeck – and the 9-year-old gelding was a once in a lifetime horse for his rider. “Larisal meant everything to me,” Bauman says, clearly emotional. “I bought him as a three-year-old from his breeder and everything he has done, he has done with me. Larisal was not just my best horse; he was the best horse in Slovenia’s show jumping history. He was very sensitive, was afraid of everything and quite difficult to ride, but in the ring he trusted me to a 100%. At the Europeans, they had new fences every day and I was a bit worried, since he was so spooky, but he jumped them all and did a fantastic job. Larisal was a horse that I never wanted to sell – he should have stayed with us until the end.”

A friend of the family has launched a fundraiser in an effort to give Bauman much needed financial support. “We lost our competition horses, all our vehicles, and most of our equipment. Everything was totally destroyed in the accident; I have nothing left. We appreciate all of the support our friends, and even people we do not know, have shown us in the past days. It is difficult to find words for how thankful we are,” Bauman says.  

If you would like to help Bauman, a Gofundme page can be found via this link. Possible offers to ride prospective horses would be appreciated by Bauman. 

If you want to help the Bauman-family in any other way, you can also send an email to post@worldofshowjumping.com and we will assist further.