Juan Matute Guimon Back in Saddle — Video — Three Months On From Collapse
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July 27, 2020
Juan Matute Guimon was back in the saddle Monday as seen in this video, three months after collapsing with a life-threatening brain disorder (CORRECTING DATES).
The 22-year-old Spanish team rider posted a video of him riding just over three weeks since his release from a Madrid hospital where he had undergone an operation to repair a genetic defect.
“A very special day,” was the way the family described Juan’s return to riding.
Juan collapsed after riding May 5. A neurosurgical team performed a lengthy and successful operation four days later to repair what was found to be a genetic disorder in the brain.
Juan, who grew up in Spain and Wellington, Florida and is a citizen of both Spain and America, lives in Madrid.
He moved there two years ago to develop his dressage and go to university.
He was successful on both sides of the Atlantic and rode on Spain’s team at the World Equestrian Games at Tryon in 2018 that earned his nation a start at the Tokyo Olympics.
Juan’s father, Juan Matute Azpitarte, a three-time Olympian for Spain, and his wife, Maria, were in Madrid when Juan collapsed and remained there throughout the ordeal.
Before his collapse, Juan had ridden his two Grand Prix horses, Quantico and Don Diego, to qualify for his first World Cup Final that was to be staged in Las Vegas in mid-April but then canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
He was ranked second and third on the two horses among Spanish combinations on the world standings that likely would have earned him a place on Spain’s team at the Tokyo Olympics that were postponed a year until the summer of 2021 because of coronavirus.
