Riders claim kite surfers scared their horses
Riders in Essex claim a girl was thrown from her horse after a kite surfer deliberately tried to scare her horse.
Nine riders from Billericay were riding at East Beach, in Shoebury on Sunday when they claim a kite surfer aimed his machine at the group, seemingly for fun.
Peter Hayward, was riding in the group with his wife Julie, told local paper The Echo: “The kite surfers were going up and down the channel so we waited for them to pass.
“When they got about 600 yards away from us we decided to cross, but they started to come back towards us.
“They stopped and one said something to his mate, then came roaring towards us laughing and veering off just 5ft away from Nicole’s horse.
“Her horse started jumping and bucking. It threw her off and her foot caught in the stirrup, which broke along with her reins.”
15-year-old Nicole Scorah, of Laurel Avenue, Wickford, was uninjured.
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Another witness told the paper: “The kite surfer went sailing into this little grey horse which reared up and the girl came off. It galloped off.
“The kite surfers were then just circling them, almost taunting them. It was so irresponsible.
A spokesman for Essex Police said they were not investigating the incident.
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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.