A young rider who fell on to a car bonnet when masked quad bike riders revved their engines and drove at her says she is too frightened to go back on the roads.
Abigail Jones, 17, was returning to the livery yard at which she keeps her 14.2hh part-bred Connemara Barney, in Wigan, when she saw the quad bikes approaching, on 11 April.
“The bikes were loud and coming towards me quite fast,” she told H&H. “The drivers were wearing masks, had no helmets and the bikes didn’t have registration plates.
“I signalled to the drivers and asked them to slow down but they revved their engines and spread out across the road, coming towards me.”
Abigail, who had been riding with her cousin Ellissa, said Barney spooked, spun round and bolted causing her to fall off.
“The bikes drove off and as I fell I landed on the bonnet of a car that had been coming behind them,” she said.
“A passer-by caught Barney and brought him back to me. He wasn’t injured but was really shaken.”
An ambulance took Abigail to hospital.
“I couldn’t move my hip and it was suspected I’d broken my elbow but it turned out to be bad bruising,” she said.
“I’m more worried about Barney, I’ve owned him for four years and it’s taken a long time to get him as confident as he is on the road.”
Abigail reported the incident to the police.
“I’m too frightened to go back on the road until the drivers are caught,” she said.
In this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday, 16 April, don’t miss our “vet special” including features on laminitis, PPID, hoof problems, moody mares and much more. Check out our new series on mindset training, and meet the equestrian NHS staff working on the front line.
