‘The canvas wrapped around his head’: drama as stable roof ripped off at Equifest
A horse was “terrified” after the roof of a temporary stable at Equifest was ripped off by strong winds.
11-year-old coloured gelding Raskel was being stabled at the competition last week (17-21 August) when the showground was hit by stormy weather.
Raskel’s owner Denise Smith has been regularly checking him due to the strong winds on Saturday (20 August).
On one of her checks she arrived to find the roof gone and Raskel nowhere to be seen.
“The roof had lifted off and there was a metal bar in his stable that had fallen off the roof canvas,” said Ms Smith’s friend Jen Lightfoot, who had travelled to the show with her own horse.
“We found out another competitor had lifted out the roof and got him out before putting him in another stable.
“The canvas had been wrapped around his head.”
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The stable was one of a number that had been damaged by the extreme weather.
Ms Lightfoot said Raskel was “beside himself”.
“Thankfully he wasn’t injured,” added Ms Lightfoot.
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A spokesman for Equifest said the show was hit by very strong gusts of wind on Saturday afternoon.
“During this time, roofs were torn off several of the stewards’ huts as well as some of the temporary stables, plus many of the trade stand marquees were destroyed,” he said.
“Luckily, there were no injuries to either humans or to horses.”
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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.