In just a few seconds on a sunny afternoon last October, Italian eventing horse Iman du Golfe went from the ride of a lifetime to fighting for his life.

In late December, after almost three months of recovery at a Paris farm, the horse flew home to Europe, not just healthy but sound enough to ride.

It was a miracle that Dr. Chris Newton of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital doubted he'd see after the horse tore open his left front leg during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.

"It's fantastic," Newton said. "He was the most significantly injured horse at the World Equestrian Games, and he's now back home. ... It really speaks well that we could have that many horses come here from such tremendous distances to compete at such a high level and not have a single horse not return home. That's rare."

His recovery has astonished those who saw the accident last fall. As rider Juan Carlos Garcia attempted to jump the right corner of the 20th fence on the cross-country course, Iman caught the edge of a log cabin roof.

Youtube footage of the combination earlier in the cross country:

Source: www.kentucky.com    Photo: AAP