Asked if she ever worried she might never ride again after the accident, her answer is a steely “no”.

The thought had never even crossed her mind. She always knew she would be back in the saddle at the earliest opportunity. No other alternative was contemplated.

“I was twiddling my thumbs. I wanted to get back. I love it – it’s not really a job. It’s just what I do,” she said.

Townend (24) works for Mullins and has been crowned Leading Lady Amateur Rider for the last two seasons.

As she prepares to head to Cheltenham, she is hoping to have her first ride at the festival in the Champion Bumper on Wednesday – the last race on the card that day.

“I’ve been dreaming of this my whole life. Every kid growing up watching Cheltenham on TV wants to be riding there,” she said.

It will be tight – due to snowfall, the Thurles meeting that was supposed to be held last Thursday was postponed until Monday, and she is set to fly out to England the following day.

“But it will be fine,” she said.

She doesn’t have a “dream horse” in mind, and added: “I’d be just so happy and I’ll take what I’m given – I’m not fussy.”

Townend is the sister of champion jumps jockey Paul Townend, although, as an amateur, she doesn’t get many opportunities to ride against him. It doesn’t matter, as they would be competitive anyway, she said.

“The weight room can be quite a daunting place, but he’s very good to me and we get on great and have great fun. And I live with him in Kilkenny when I’m riding out with Willie, so we’d have a good bit of banter.”

She has seen her brother ride the big winners at Cheltenham, including two Gold Cups on Al Boum Photo.

This year, Paul Townend hopes to repeat history and take home the biggest prize in jumps racing again on board Galopin Des Champs in the top race on St Patrick’s Day.

He has declared they have “unfinished business” after the horse dramatically fell at the final fence during the Turners Novices’ Chase last year.

“Even if I don’t get to ride myself, I love watching Paul. It’s an unbelievable festival and a bit of success is nice as well,” his sister said.

Reflecting on growing up as the daughter of trainer Tim Townend, she said: “I was on a pony before I could walk. I don’t actually remember a time when I wasn’t on one. I just loved it.”

She stuck to point-to-points and showjumping and had no plan to become a jockey until the age of 14 or 15 when she got a licence to ride an old racehorse at home.

“And then he won,” she said.

Then came the accident in 2018 that put it all at risk when she was schooling a horse at home. “It took off too soon and whatever way I landed, I broke my back,” she said.

She struggles now to recall the details of the vertebrae she broke.

“I suppose that’s a good thing that I can’t remember now because at the time I had to have three operations and it was nine months before I rode again,” she said.

Her return to the saddle was delayed by infection after surgery, but she made a brilliant recovery to ride a winner in the Connacht Hotel Amateur Riders Handicap with Great White Shark on the opening day of the 2019 Galway Festival in what was only her fourth ride back.

She said it can annoy her slightly if people make a big deal out of her being “a woman jockey”.

“I don’t see myself as being any different from anyone else. We’re all out there on a level playing field,” she said.

“I think Rachael [Blackmore], Nina [Carberry] and Katie [Walsh] have proved we can be as good. Their actions have spoken, so it doesn’t need to be a thing any more.

"You go out there and it’s a pretty level playing field – even the owners and trainers are after coming around.”