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An ambulance and a waste removal vehicle had to be abandoned at Little Downham Horse Trials (1-3 October) after becoming trapped in a ditch.
Controlling the vehicles on the wet ground had proved tricky and drivers were forced to leave them after they slipped off the track.
Thankfully no one was injured in the accidents.
“It was ever so wet over there on Friday afternoon,” Trevor Barker, managing director of APMS Ambulance service, told Horse & Hound.
“The ambulance 4×4 was coming along the top of the bank and slid slowly down into the ditch.
“It was at such a slow speed it was like slow motion.
“The driver was absolutely fine and the rest of the event was totally without incident.”
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The ambulance service had two 4x4s and a road vehicle at the Cambridgeshire event and were able to continue their work as planned.
The crashed vehicle attracted plenty of attention from visitors and competitors, with pictures of the stranded car being shared on social media.
“Somone marked the ambulance out with flags and a ‘B’ marker to make it look like a fence as a joke alternative course,” said Mr Barker.
“I’m surprised it stayed out of the media until now.”
A van collecting waste from the mobile toilets at the event also became stuck on Saturday morning.
The vehicle slid down the bank a few yards from the ambulance.
Mr Barker added that the ambulance would be collected on Monday evening or Tuesday.
“We didn’t want to cut up the course taking it out,” he added.
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.