By MIKE DILLON
Veteran horseman Ken Browne was fighting for his life in Waikato Hospital last night, after breaking his neck in a fall.
The 67-year-old Cambridge rider and trainer - regarded as the father of jumps racing in New Zealand - was on life support and had to be resuscitated at least once.
He was found unconscious on his Cambridge property yesterday when a young horse he had gone out to educate came back riderless.
Last night, his wife and co-trainer, Ann, said the horse had "nose-dived and he did too."
Browne's most remarkable characteristic may have led to the accident - at 67, he was still riding at speed over fearsome fences.
Most jockeys figure that at 40 the push and shove of race riding is too tough.
Browne has not been the prettiest sight on a horse in the past couple of decades, but neither his horsemanship nor his courage was in doubt.
He was so exhausted after winning the 1979 Great Northern Steeplechase at Ellerslie on Ascona that he was unable to dismount in the weigh-in area.
Racing: Jumps maestro fighting for life after fence fall
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