A show stallion was thrown out of a trailer and onto the M5 after the vehicle was struck from behind by a car.
Show producer Mark Northam was transporting fell stallion Bybeck Evolution home to Bristol from Devon County Show last Friday (20 May) when the accident took place.
The trailer unhitched and “Evo” was thrown out, ending up on the opposite side of the road, in the fast lane of the south-bound carriageway.
Owner Sarah Dowdeswell, from Northumberland, said she wanted to thank everyone involved in the rescue.
Neither Mark, his passenger, nor the pony was seriously injured in the incident.
“We were so lucky – it could have been a horrific accident,” said Sarah.
“Lorry drivers stopped their lorries on the south-bound carriageway to create a barrier so “Evo” could be caught.
“And a lady called Carol Haddon Wright, who was travelling north with an empty trailer stopped and took Evo home. It made things a lot easier as the police wanted him off the road so they could reopen the motorway but we had nowhere to put him.
“Remarkably he just walked into her trailer. He has a couple of scrapes, cuts and has lost his front shoes – we think he overreached trying to get upright after the crash – but does not seem to be injured.”
Evo had won the Olympia M&M ridden class at the show and had been reserve champion.