Coroner concerned about safety of sharing ex-racehorses
A coroner is writing to the British Horse Society (BHS) to register his concerns about the safety of sharing ex-racehorses after the death of a 28-year-old woman.
East Sussex coroner Alan Craze recorded a verdict of accidental death on Caitriona O’Leary, of Tideswell Road, Eastbourne yesterday (20 December), who died after 12-year-old Mister bolted on a country road on 28 May.
An inquest in Eastbourne, heard that Miss O’Leary was found on her back in the middle of the road in Hailsham by a passerby.
It was unclear whether she had fallen or jumped off.
Miss O’Leary, shared the horse with another woman, was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital but died on 1 June.
She had suffered multiple skull fractures, despite wearing a riding hat.
Mr Craze said: “Our concern was to make sure that if there were lessons which can help other people then those lessons are learnt.
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“If there is a difficulty in a racehorse’s temperament, which isn’t there in other horses, then the equestrian world needs to have that underlined.”
The BHS said it had not yet heard from Mr Craze.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.