THIS is the horrifying moment a horse rider is thrown from her mount after her horse was startled by a passing moped.
Paula Yates and friend Jean Arthur were out on a hack with their horses Murphy and Millie on Sunday afternoon in Hampshire, South East England when they were approached by a pair of mopeds.
Video filmed from Paula’s perspective shows Jean and Murphy stood in front of her, pulled over to the side of a narrow one track road as they spot the two oncoming mopeds.
Jean reassuringly pats Murphy as the mopeds approach and Paula allows Milie to get eye contact with the noisy motor engines.
However, shortly after the first moped passes Murphy appears to get very skittish, seeming spooked by the noise of the sputtering enging, before spinning around to chase after the driver.
Paula, 54, and Jean, 64, shout after the driver to turn off the engine as Paula’s horse Millie gives chase too.
Suddenly in one heart-dropping movement, Jean falls from Murphy, hitting the road and leaving her motionless as she groans in pain.
The second moped rider can be seen hanging back from the scene as the first driver looks round at the commotion.
Paula screams at the drivers: “Woah, woah, hey stop, turn it off!” before turning to her friend and asking “Are you alright?”
Jean swiftly replies: “I don’t know yet.”
Paula tells her companion: “Alright, wait there, stay there.”
The first moped driver then approaches Paula and says: “I’ll hold your horse” as she goes to retrieve Murphy who stands spooked at the edge of a field just off-camera.
Paula posted her video to social media on Sunday writing: “Today this happened, the front rider said he thought horses were road aware.
“I advised him to be aware that horses are very unpredictable, no one at fault, pony caught and ride sore/swollen but ok.”
Her post received over 180 likes with more than a hundred comments from concerned viewers.
One said: “I’m really glad it was not worse with bad injuries or worse.”
Another added: “Just goes to show you anything can set even the best horses off.”
A third replied: “Oh my god, I felt sick watching this, why oh why are people so clueless when it comes to horses. Thank God no one was seriously hurt.”
Another commented: “Oh God, that’s awful, hope the lady is okay and the horse.”
Speaking today, Paula said: “We were on a hack and saw some scooters heading towards us so pulled in to let them pass, when the first scooter passed the first horse was a bit unsure.
“When the second one came close he spooked, turned and bolted, I think it was the putt-putt noise of the engine that spooked him.
“My horse naturally followed and shot off too, the first scooter rider didn’t realise and kept going and wasn’t aware what was happening until the first horse went past riderless.
“My friend came off at speed, slid along the grass verge and rolled a few times.
“Luckily I was able to pull my horse up despite the second rider continuing to ride towards us, I screamed for them to stop and switch it off.
“I didn’t want my horse spooking again as I went to dismount, the riderless horse stopped a bit further down the road so I checked on Jean and went to grab Murphy whilst the first scooter rider held Milie.
“The groans I heard coming from Jean were horrible and eventually she managed to stand but her knee is swollen very badly and she has grazes.
“She tried to re-mount Murphy but had to get off as it was too painful so we walked home, both scooter riders did what they could to help but they told us they thought horses were road aware.”
It is expected that drivers would usually stop and adjust their speed before passing horses in a wide and slow motion.
The highway code indicates that a driver should slow to 10 miles per hour and be patient when passing a horse.
