Zoe Moffatt
There are calls for the community to rally around a gofundme for a Kyneton local horse trainer who has faced setback after setback, from the 2022 floods and to a recently shattered ankle.
Trainer Mick Sell and his wife Mel Sell have run their stable of about 22 horses for four years as their family business.
Following the devastating floods last year which threatened their home and business, Mick has been sidelined with a shattered ankle and fractured tibia.
Mel said the incident happened when he was leading a horse and it reared up and came down on his leg.
“Mick was leading a horse back from the swimming pool, and then it reared up and when it came down [they both got tangled up in rope],” Mel said.
“Basically [the horse] used his leg as a hammer and smashed down on top of his leg, shattering his ankle and fracturing his tibia.”
Mick said the injury was quite painful and has limited his ability to work, which has had a big financial impact on them.
“Mick won’t admit it himself but he does the majority of the work,” Mel said.
“He rode probably 75 per cent of our track work, so we’ve obviously lost him and had to source new riders.
“This has a big impact on us financially, [especially] when we were just trying to recover from the floods last year… where we lost all our stables.
“We just got back into the stables a couple of months earlier… and [were] trying to get back on our feet again and losing Mick, it’s three quarters of our stable.
“He’s a very hard man to replace.”
Mel said the hardest part of the injury has been the timing, especially with Mick facing a minimum of three months in recovery time.
With the community already gathering around to support Mick and Mel, the gofundme page said the aim is to ensure that Mick, Mel and their three young children receive the best of care.
There are no expectations or dollar target, and the gofundme page said anything anyone can spare would be enormously appreciated.
Details: rb.gy/6cmyj
