A young event horse suffered burns to his face and body after a Chinese lantern landed in his field in Essex.
The horse’s owner, Paris Gainsford, is now urging members of the public not to set off these potentially dangerous lanterns.
Homebred four-year-old Danny had been on a three-month holiday turned away with two other youngsters.
Yesterday morning (25 October) when the horses were checked, Danny did not appear at the gate as usual.
Paris found him in the field with burns around his ears and on the side of his face, both stifles and his shoulder.
Paris’ vet was able to come out within half an hour and Danny was put on antibiotics and painkillers.
“It was not a nice thing to find,” Paris told H&H.
“Thankfully it was more cosmetic and he wasn’t seriously injured.
“We don’t know if the lantern got caught round his head and then went on to his body.
“There were a couple of bits of the fabric stuck to his fur and some oily residue left on his coat.”
Paris said the Irish/Oldenburg gelding is recovering well and has been “the perfect patient”.
“Our plan is to start eventing next year, we did a bit of training this year and he was turned away to grow and mature — it was a bit of a sharp end to his holiday,” she added.
Ms Gainsford now wants to make sure as many people as possible are aware of the risks the lanterns pose.
Related articles:
- Yard owner warns of sky lantern risk after finding 19 in horses’ fields
- Sky lantern ban imposed by Welsh council
- Further calls to ban ‘dangerous’ sky lanterns
“The more people who are aware the better,” she said.
“People don’t realise how far they travel and it’s not just horses they can harm – cattle and houses are also at risk — they can be life-threatening.
“We’re so lucky he didn’t have a rug on because that could have set fire.”
