Two mares — 1 heavily pregnant — escaped with minor injuries after a trailer fell down an embankment in Scotland on Saturday (28 June).
The owner, Jan Simpson, was driving the horses from the family’s Elvingston Stud in Haddington, East Lothian to the Scotland AI Service in West Lothian when the accident happened.
Bella, a 15.3hh Dutch warmblood was going up to be settled for her pre-foal arrival, and Nasturcja, a 10-year-old 16hh warmblood, was going to be scanned.
Ms Simpson said she was towing with a 4×4 at 45mph, on a straight road when “suddenly the trailer swerved wildly and unhitched.”
The trailer, which had been recently serviced and had new tyres, disappeared down a steep embankment.
The sight of the crumbled trailer with 2 motionless horses — one still inside the wreakage, the other thrown out — was, said Ms Simpson her “worst nightmare.”
She said by “some miracle,” the horses started moving and Nasturcja managed to get up, but Bella was still trapped and bleeding.
Bella was cut out of the trailer by the fire and rescue service. Ms Simpson said the horses walked straight into the rescue lorry to be taken to the University of Edinburgh’s Dick Vet equine practice to have their wounds treated.
Bella’s foal was fine and both horses escaped with only minor injuries.
“Had we not had such a robust trailer there is no way those horses would have survived,” she said.
The police are investigating the reasons for the accident.
