Last Updated on September 8, 2018 by CCAR Staff
A horse suffered severe injuries when he was thrown from his trailer after a driver slammed into the carrier early Saturday, Sept. 8, Riverside County Animal Services said.
The collision happened about 2:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of the 10 Freeway near the Main Street exit in Cabazon.
The woman, whose name was not available, was driving 80-90 mph, according to information supplied to Animal Services by the California Highway Patrol, a news release said.
There were two horses in the trailer being transported from Winchester to Texas, and one, named Oliver, broke loose from its halter and fell out of the mangled doors.
“That was the power of the impact. Imagine a slingshot with an 800-pound animal,” Animal Services Sgt. Lesley Huennekens said in the release. “Its sheer luck that this horse survived.”
Oliver ran loose briefly before the transport driver wrangled the young male Appaloosa and applied a tourniquet to his right hind leg. The horse was taken to the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus for treatment.
The woman was hospitalized. Her name, and information on whether she was cited or jailed, was not available Saturday afternoon.
