AN 11-YEAR-OLD boy died of “severe” head injuries after hitting a tree in a horse riding accident at a polo club near Kidlington last year, an inquest said.

Oxford Coroner’s Court was told Medi Mehra ((cor)) died on July 15 after he fell off a horse and hit his head in a field near Kirtlington Park House.

He died at the scene despite wearing a riding helmet.

Medi, of Maida Vale, London, lost control of the horse when it cantered while he was leading another horse and riding without stirrups.

At the inquest on Thursday, Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter ruled his death was an accident and said: “It was apparent Medi was a relative beginner in terms of riding ability.

“I do think there was a significant increase in the risk by having Medi leading a horse with no stirrups.”

Consultant pathologist Dr Eve Fryer, who carried out a post mortem examination, said the cause of death was severe head injuries.

The court heard Medi’s father, Mehdi Mehra, was thinking about buying Medi his own horse so wanted him to experience working around horses.

He asked friend and professional polo player Pedro Harrison, who owns a yard and six horses in the park, to look after Medi for a few days and have him work in the stables.

Mr Harrison’s groom William Newman was the only adult with Medi when he died and was also riding and leading four other horses at the time.

Mr Newman said: “I would normally take the horses for a nice long walk with some brief sections of trotting.

“I was giving Medi riding pointers. He seemed quite confident on a horse. He seemed happy.

“I thought I’d push him a bit more and told him to take his stirrups up and have a canter.

“But then there was a gradual increase in speed as Medi lost control and I quickly lost sight of him over the crest of the hill.”

Mr Harrison, who had been in his yard, said: “I heard Medi scream. I looked up and saw him riding past on the grass, still leading the horse and going very fast.

“I got in my car immediately and went after them. When I found Medi he was lying by the tree and had blood coming from his nose and ears.”

Mr Harrison admitted he did not give Mr Newman specific instructions as to what to do with Medi and said he assumed they would just be walking around the park.

Mr Newman said: “I obviously over-estimated his riding ability and hugely underestimated the horse’s quietness.

“It’s something I regret hugely, but I had instructors tell me plenty of times to take my stirrups away when I was learning.”

Before Medi died, his mother Mary-Anne Bowring specifically chose an older horse called Rubia for Medi to ride on.

She told the court: “I felt his safety was wholly dependent on a sensible choice of horse. I wanted to ensure that I had matched his ability to the horse’s character, speed, age, size and maturity, reducing the likelihood of mishap.”

She said she had made it clear that she did not want Medi to ride any other horse and said “there was no way in hell” she would have left Medi stay with Mr Harrison if she knew he would ride anything else.

On the day Medi died he was riding Mr Harrison’s horse Mimosa. But Mr Harrison said Mr Mehra had told him to give Medi “whatever horse I thought was suitable.”

Mrs Bowring later said: “William made some stupid mistakes but at no point was he in charge of my son.

“Pedro should have supervised Medi properly. He should not have been left in the sole charge of his groom.”

Mr Salter added: “This is obviously the most awful tragedy, an accident. There was a lack of clarity over whether Medi should have been riding Rubia or any other horse.”