Champion horsewoman found hanged hours after celebrating first wedding anniversary, inquest hears

Abigail Garside, a 30-year-old dressage rider who had celebrated her first wedding anniversary with her husband at a luxury spa, was found hanged in Harrogate, an inquest opening heard.

Senior coroner John Heath told North Yorkshire Coroner's Court in Northallerton that Garside was discovered in Montpellier Parade on August 18 and that the provisional cause of death was recorded as "1a) hanging." A member of the public found Garside and her death was later confirmed, the court was told.

Garside, from Blackburn, Lancashire, had spent August 17 at the 300-acre Rudding Park resort in Harrogate with her husband, Samuel Garside, marking their first anniversary. Around nine hours before her body was found she had posted photographs on social media of the couple raising champagne glasses in a hot tub and wrote: "Lovely day in Harrogate celebrating our first wedding anniversary with my love." Samuel Garside also posted anniversary photographs and paid tribute on social media after her death.

The court was told Garside was an accomplished dressage rider who had competed at the Horse of the Year Show. She and her husband had been preparing to relocate to Australia in October; they had advertised their new-build home on the outskirts of Blackburn for rent and posted on social media that visas had been approved and a house secured in Melbourne.

Garside's body was discovered shortly after 6:15 a.m. on August 18 in public gardens in the centre of Harrogate. Her funeral was held last week and included a horse-drawn carriage procession from her home to a church in the village of Feniscowles. A memorial webpage asked friends to donate to the mental health charity Mind and to the Dogs Trust.

The inquest was adjourned to a date to be fixed. Coroners' courts record provisional causes pending any further investigation, post-mortem results or additional evidence that might be heard at later hearings.

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