A rider whose family survived a five-car pile up on a motorway has spoken about giving a rescue pony a second chance.
Corinne Mason of Lytham was involved in a crash on the M6 in April 2016 with her husband and three children after a car in front skidded on diesel.
Corinne told H&H: “The woman in front of us hit the diesel, spun and crashed into the crash barrier. We made the decision to move to what we thought was safety and try to get the kids out of the car and move them behind the barrier.
“As I was getting our little boy Fred out of the car, three more cars hit the diesel and spun and the first car slid across the road into Fred and pushed his head into the crash barrier.”
Fred, 5, had to be airlifted to hospital and suffered a compressed skull, broken collar bone and a broken pelvis.
“It was every parents’ nightmare. We thought we’d lost him, he was unconscious and his head was completely dipped in at one side.”
Fred went on to make a good recovery, being released from hospital after a week.
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Corinne contacted World Horse Welfare (WHW) in July 2016 after seeing an advert for a pony called Tina.
“Horses have always been my passion, it’s what I love. I thought when the children grow up I’ll buy a horse, but after the accident I thought why wait — life can change in 10 minutes,” said Corinne.
“I had been to see a nice pony, but I had a niggle that I should be doing something different. I saw an advert for Tina on the WHW website and I just had to see her. She was just over 12 months old and had been with the centre since April after being found with a group of horses in a field. As soon as I walked in the stable and saw her I just knew. I brought the family down to meet her and I was smitten.”
The pony trotted to the pub to raise the alarm after her rehomer suffered a nasty injury in a driving
Corinne is continuing Tina’s education using natural horsemanship and agility training and hopes she’ll make a ridden pony that both her and her daughter can enjoy.
“If there’s something you love you should go for it. The accident shook the whole family, and I think rehoming Tina felt like I was doing a good deed and giving something else a fresh start. She has turned out to be so loving, after having had such a bad start to life. She is so trusting and such a people-pony,” said Corinne.
“When you have that shock like we had, it makes you realise that you don’t know what’s around the corner so instead of putting your happiness in the future, you should make your happiness now. We don’t know what happened that day, Fred shouldn’t have come out of that the way he did – it’s a miracle he came out with injuries that he would recover from.”
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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.
