A para dressage horse escaped serious injury after a “freak accident” while in transit resulted in him being cut out of his trailer by firefighters.
Grade II para dressage rider Julie Payne was travelling home from the Hartpury International (4-7 July) with nine-year-old gelding Divinity, who is known at home as Leo, when she felt her horsebox start to swing on the A40.
Julie, who competed at the 2017 European Para Dressage Championships, told H&H: “Leo is normally such a good traveller, you don’t even know he’s in the box. The only time you ever feel him is if he moves to wee.
“We came round a roundabout and felt the box move so assumed he was having a wee. But then it happened again and the box started swaying in all directions.”
Julie stopped in a lay-by and discovered Leo had got his front legs over the breast bar of the rear-facing trailer.
“The trailer has tack lockers on the outside which form a box in front of the bar so I didn’t think there was any way for a horse to get their legs over,” she said.
“We couldn’t take the side ramp down because it opens onto the road and Leo was struggling to free himself so we had to phone the police, fire brigade and vet for help.”
During the struggle Leo managed to catch his shoes on his haynet and pushed his hooves through the top of the tack locker. When help arrived the police shut the dual carriageway in both directions, Leo was sedated and a crew from Witney fire station assessed the situation.
“Leo had started to overheat, but we had to wait for a specialist animal rescue unit to arrive from Kidlington before we could get him out,” said Julie. “All of a sudden he struggled again, tried to tip onto his side and it took the vet and two firemen to hold him up. The way one of his legs was stuck, if he’d have gone over he would have broken it.”
The fire crews dismantled the box and freed Leo, and after an assessment from the vet it was agreed he was well enough to be taken home.
“A friend collected him and took him back to my yard 15 minutes away. He had scrapes to his legs and was given antibiotics and painkillers. Really he was lucky not to have broken both front legs, but he came sound three days later,” said Julie.
“The fire crew and my vet, Charlotte Couth, from Bourton Vale Equine Clinic were absolutely fantastic. We think it was entirely a freak accident – he usually travels so well and we can’t think what made him do it. He’s such a big horse at more than 17hh and we didn’t think it was even possible. Charlotte suggested maybe he got bitten or stung by something – we just don’t know.”
Julie has had her box repaired and a higher bar has been installed as a “precaution”.
“Leo is still having physio and chiropractic treatment for soft tissue damage, but he is getting there and the plan is to start building him back up. Next week’s plan is to see how he gets on going back in the box, and I hope we’ll be out competing again soon,” she said.
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