Funds raised in memory of a much-loved pony who had to be put down as a result of a road accident will be split between the East Anglian Air Ambulance and an equestrian charity.
Family friend Fern Wilby set up a Gofundme page in memory of Beth Main’s 14.2hh mare Nissy.
The pair were hacking out in Beccles last Thursday (26 September) when they were involved in a collision with a car. Beth, 14, escaped serious injury, although she was knocked unconscious and airlifted to hospital, but Nissy had to be put down at the scene.
“Nissy saved Beth’s life,” Fern told H&H. “She took the impact, and Beth came away without even a broken bone; it’s a miracle.”
When Beth first owned Nissy, two years ago, the idea was to compete in dressage but she had also showjumped, including clearing 1.25m in a gate-jumping challenge.
“Beth called her ‘the little horse who can’, and she refers to her as ‘my hero’,” Fern said. “She told me the other day she had a lifetime of memories from those two years.”
Fern said she set up the fundraising page in Nissy’s memory.
“Often when things happen, the horse isn’t remembered but she was so special, I wanted to try to keep her memory alive,” she said.
“When I first set it up, within 20 minutes, it had had £75 and I thought that would be good – but now it’s raised over £1,100. I can’t believe it, and Beth’s family has found it a comfort.”
The money will be split equally between the air ambulance and an equestrian charity of Beth’s choosing.
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“Beth also really wants to raise awareness of horse safety on the roads,” Fern said. “That’s why I put ‘pass wide and slow’ on the fundraising page, in hope it would stick in people’s heads.
“Beth and Nissy were such a team and after everything they’d done together, this happened out hacking. Losing a horse can be like losing a family member, it’s absolutely horrendous.”
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