The owner of a mare who suffered horrendous injuries when she plunged into a cattle grid after she was spooked by a motorbike said she hopes the motorcyclist responsible will come forward.
Lisa Stevenson, from Dartmoor, was less than half a mile from her home with her 17.2hh six-year-old B when two motorcyclists came “hurling” towards them on Friday (12 July)
Lisa told H&H: “The first bike passed without slowing down and B started to dance on the road and then the second biked passed; B reared and spun.
“I think her back leg slipped under her and I fell off. It all happened so quickly, I don’t remember much about the fall but next thing I was watching my horse gallop up the road.”
“She caught up with the motorcyclist who had slowed down and then she turned up my driveway. When I got to the bottom of the drive I could see her disappear into a cattle grid and then climb back out again,” said Lisa.
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“I think she had tried to jump it and her front legs slid out in front of her and her back legs went into it. Once she got out I saw her drag herself away – I thought she had broken her legs, it was awful. The motorcyclist had stopped and watched it happen then shook his head at me and drove off.”
Lisa called her boyfriend Sam, who was at home, who caught B while Lisa made her way up the mile-long driveway.
“I phoned the vet while Sam untacked her, she stood in shock with her head on the floor,” said Lisa. “I’m not usually squeamish but I threw up when I saw her legs. One of her boots had come off in the cattle grid but the other was embedded into her flesh.
“The vet was amazing and reassured me. She said B had a full de-gloving of her hind leg from her hock to fetlock but all the bones and tendons were intact so she is optimistic of a full recovery. She managed to pull the skin back and stitch it as best as she could but there is still a lot of exposed flesh.”
B, who also injured her knee, pulled off all her shoes in the incident and Lisa damaged her riding helmet in the fall.
“There were chunks of flesh still on the concrete from B’s knee. She is bandaged and the vet needs to come back every three days to change the dressing. She’ll be on box rest for two to three weeks at least,” said Lisa.
“She had been recovering from a tendon injury which she had before I bought her in March. I had taken a gamble in buying her but she was sound and I was hoping she would be a dressage prospect so we had been doing hacking and schooling. She’s never had any problems with bikes or cars before on the road.”
Lisa has reported the incident to the police.
“I didn’t get his registration plate because I was too busy worrying about B. It’s a long flat 40mph road and people always drive along it so fast – we’re extremely rural and there’s loose livestock roaming, people need to be more aware,” she said.
“I hope the motorcyclist’s conscience gets the better of him and he comes forward but I’m not hopeful. The worst part was his lack of compassion, he watched it happen and saw me screaming.”
Lisa posted about what happened on Facebook.
“It’ s been shared a lot so I hope some kind of awareness can come from this – I’m not tarring motorcyclists, but people need to be more considerate for horses on the road.”
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
