However, this newfound momentum has been abruptly halted by the injury, with a statement on Rose’s Facebook page raising doubts about his participation in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics.
“As the saying goes peacock one day, feather duster the next! After a fantastic week in New Zealand Shane and Virgil secured their Olympic qualifications, this week Shane was brought back down to earth literally. During a cross-country schooling session yesterday Shane suffered a nasty fall.
“Thankfully his horse was not injured in the fall. Shane is currently in ICU with a badly broken femur and a fractured pelvis and ribs. He also suffered a heavy concussion. Shane had surgery this morning to stabilize the femur and pelvis.
“Shane is in good hands with a great medical team and support network. While the timing is unfortunate we are hopeful there is adequate time for him to recover and still be able to continue his preparation schedule for the Paris Olympics Games.”
Last month, while competing at the event in the NSW southern highlands that encouraged fancy dress, Rose dressed in a Duffman outfit from TV show The Simpsons, as a gorilla wearing a mankini, and in the skimpy mankini alo
While Rose said his stunt at a competition earlier this month was “to have a bit of fun”, he said it had caused plenty of stress after he was stood down temporarily by Equestrian Australia.
The governing body acted on a complaint, and had Rose remained stood down it could have put a big dent in his Paris campaign.
“My intentions were to have a bit of fun,” he said last month.
“In saying that, it’s a pretty serious thing ... if that (his Paris program) was going to be compromised by missing an event in two weeks in New Zealand, it would be a massive compromise to my program.
“It’s a nerve-racking time, not knowing, but I was always hopeful that common sense would come to the conclusion we’re at.”
In a statement, Equestrian Australia accepted Rose’s apology, confirmed he had not breached their code of conduct, and announced it would assess minimum dress standards at events.
“I’ve done it, haven’t I - I don’t need to do it again,” Rose said.
“I’m comfortable with my decisions, but because some faceless person makes a complaint, a lot of things have happened over the last 24 hours that are not nice.
“I would not recommend a G-string to anyone, they’re not a comfortable bit of gear - and when you put that on a horse, even less comfortable.
“It’s been scandalous ... mankini-gate.’’
