Teenage girl died after being trampled by her horse
The death of a 13-year-old girl, who was trampled by her horse, was an accident, a coroner has recorded.
An inquest in Kendal, Cumbria, heard on Thursday (29 September) that Elizabeth Colton, of Garsdale near Sedbergh, was tacking up in a field when her mare was startled and bucked.
The teenager fell onto the floor and was trodden upon in the stomach as the horse bolted, on 29 April.
The girl’s mother, who was in the field at the time, told the inquest that Elizabeth complained of feeling dazed and not being able to see.
By the time they got home the girl was unconscious and the air ambulance was called.
She was taken to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary but died of her injuries on the operating table.
A post mortem showed Elizabeth died of traumatic liver laceration. There was also damage to the stomach wall consistent with being struck by a hoof.
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Deputy coroner Shirley Evans recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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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.