The trainer of a racehorse who was injured on the road when a passing van failed to slow down has urged drivers to be more considerate.
Seven-year-old Jonjoela was spooked by a van as she was being led back from the gallops to Tracey Leeson’s Blakesley yard on Tuesday morning.
Tracey told H&H that rather than slowing, the van continued past, “making the horse even worse”. The mare got free from rider Gina Swan, slipped and fell.
“She got so spooked that Gina couldn’t hang on to her, and that’s why she got loose,” she said. “There have been a few accidents on this road with cars as it’s a fast bit of road.
“Thank god two other cars came to a standstill. There was a nice lady from one of the cars who stopped to make sure she was ok. ”
Jonjoela sustained multiple scrape injuries and is being treated with painkillers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
“She’s extremely sore and stiff as you can imagine,” Tracey said. “She’s got a nasty deep cut on her front leg, some nasty scrapes around her knees and a very sore hock. She’s also ripped the skin off at the stifle area which is red-raw.
Horse & Hound Newsletter
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
“I pray she hasn’t done anything too serious. It does look like it’s just very badly bruised. Touch wood, she’s a tough old bird – it really could have been a lot worse.”
Jonjoela, who pulled off shoes in the accident, had been due to race soon.
“She was originally due to run at Worcester today and the only reason we didn’t have her entered was because they didn’t get the rain that we had hoped they were going to get,” Tracey said. “The mare was in cracking form so it’s a real shame she’s had this setback.
“I can’t get the farrier to come and shoe her while she’s in this mess, it’s just not fair on her to be made to pick her legs up. We’ll have to wait and see how she gets on before she’s entered for another race.”
The racing yard relies on the 50-yard stretch of road to get to the gallops.
Police are searching for the driver of a van towing a trailer which collided with a horse, but did not
Tracey said while most of the drivers in the area are “pretty good” you get the “one or two” who think horses should not be on the road.
“We don’t deliberately go on the road to cause an accident, we have to get to the gallops and we have to use that bit of road – it’s very difficult,” she said.
“Motorists, please, if you see an horse in distress please stop and wait for the horse to be calmed. This episode could have been a lot worse than some cuts and grazes.”
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
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.
