A woman is lucky to be alive after her horse encountered a cyclist on a Massachusetts trail. The animal slung her to the ground and also suffered injuries itself, which resulted in euthanasia.
Speaking with CBS affiliate WBZ-TV, Rosie Kennedy explained she was riding her horse named Pops in Ipswich near the railroad track. That's when a cyclist on a mountain bike zoomed by. The close encounter with the man spooked her 8-year-old horse. Kennedy said the animal "lost his mind." It reared up and spun around, throwing her from the mount.
According to Kennedy, the horse dragged her for close to 10 feet.
"I was sure I was going to die," she told WBTS. "I just prayed that it would be quick."
Pops then continued galloping away. What Kennedy didn't know at the time was that the horse would collapse itself a mile away. The animal suffered a shoulder fracture and later had to be put down. Following the scary fall from the horse, Kennedy said she confronted the cyclist.
Woman Survives Fall From Horse
He remained at the scene until she questioned him, "What are you doing riding along railroad tracks?" He then left her there. Kennedy said she spent the next half hour slowly crawling back to a nearby barn. The fall from the horse shattered her left ankle and damaged her knee.
She spent six days in the hospital and still hasn't fully recovered. The emotional scars remain. She's saddened that she didn't get to be with her horse in his final moments.
"I never got a chance to say goodbye to him," she also added.
"Under no circumstances should any bicyclist or any pedestrian ever come up fast behind a horse. That is terrifying to them. And it was terrifying to Pops," she said. "I think this accident has caused people to think about it very clearly and perhaps make some changes in the way that trails are opened, traversed at home."
