The heartbroken owners of a horse who suffered horrific fatal injuries after he was chased by a loose dog and ran into the road said they will campaign for law changes to protect animals and people.
Loki, an eight-year-old Welsh section C, suffered four “shattered” legs in a collision with a car, and had to be put down at the roadside in Lofthouse, West Yorkshire, on Saturday (25 January). His owners told H&H he had bolted on to the road as he was scared by a dog, whose owner refused to put him back on the lead.
“It was such a horrific accident – and it could have been avoided,” Rosita Pyne, grandmother of the two girls involved, told H&H.
Rosita explained that her 17- and 14-year-old granddaughters Lili-Ana and Maisy were riding with a friend, and another girl walking with them, in an off-road area.
“There was a man with a dog and it started running around the horses,” Rosita said. “They asked him if he could just put it back on the lead while they went past and he refused – and told them to F off. He said it was a public area and he could do what he wanted.”
Rosita said the girls waited for the man to move away, but the dog came back.
“It was chasing them,” she said. “Loki bucked and kicked to get the dog away; Lili came off and he bolted to get away from the dog. We’ve got dogs and the horses have been brought up around them so it must have been really at his heels for him to react like that; he’d never bolted before.”
Maisy, whom Loki belonged to, went after him but the smaller pony she was riding could not keep up, Rosita said.
“She got to the road and someone held the pony, someone else was trying to catch Loki – but then the car hit him, full-on,” she said. “Maisy heard the bang. It shattered all four of his legs, and one of his hooves had come off the bone. But he was in full flight mode, and still trying to get up. It was horrendous, it floored us all.”
Maisy called her mother and grandmother, and a vet, who arrived as soon as she could.
“She said she’d never seen anything like it; he had to be euthanised straight away,” Rosita said. “We needed to put him out of his pain and misery.
“I just hope that with all the adrenaline, he didn’t feel anything, but poor Maisy is only 14 and she had to see it all. They’re going to cremate him because she wants him back.
“She stayed with him until they took him away; she didn’t leave as she wanted to tell him she loved him and say goodbye, which she did. She’s so brave.”
Rosita said the family wants to speak up about what happened to raise awareness.
“We want to campaign for a law that means dogs must be on leads in public places,” she said. “It’s for the safety of people, horses and other animals. There was a fatality; Loki was part of our family, even if he wasn’t human, and the car driver could have been killed as well. If Lili hadn’t come off, it could have been fatal for her too. Something needs to be done to protect people and animals.”
The family had bought Loki as a yearling so he and Maisy had grown up together.
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
“He was her first horse; they were going to go to college together, they had plans,” she said. “He was so handsome, never kicked or bit. He and Maisy had done all sorts together and he was always great.
“This could have been avoided – all that man had to do is put his dog on the lead.”
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said officers were called to Leeds Road, Lofthouse, a village between Wakefield and Leeds, at just after 4.30pm, to reports a horse and a car had been involved in a collision.
“Officers attended and established the horse had thrown a female rider before bolting into the road where the collision took place,” the spokesperson said.
“The female rider was assessed by paramedics at the scene and did not require hospital treatment.
“Sadly, the horse suffered very serious injuries in the collision, and was euthanised at the roadside to stop its suffering. Collection for the horse was arranged by an attending vet.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
