Trailer accident this morning..........

[PetalPower]

Trundling along to jumping lesson this morning when young man in hire car travelling at a rate of knots decided to bury said hire car in the front of my Land Rover Discovery.

Fortunately horse had breast/breech bars in as she has to travel in the middle of the trailer without partitions - we were hit with such force that she has bent the breast bar into a fairly good triangle and ripped it out of the trailer. She refused to load into another trailer so my Dad (bless him) had to walk her home whilst I dealt with the police. She has a lump on her chest which I'm going to get the vet to check out just in case there is any underlying damage, so keep your fingers crossed for me (please!).

Moral of story - so glad had breast and breech bars, see people without them and think they must be mad, even more so after today. I'm so grateful that I wasn't a little further round the corner, I can't bear to think what would have happened if he had hit the trailer and not the Land Rover.

Thanks for listening, big mug of builder's tea for your time x

 

[OWLIE185]

I hope that your horse is o.k. and get the vet to give you a written report. You also need to check that your horse will easily load again and in the future and if not then claim against other drivers insurance. Was other driver on the wrong side of the road and what speed was he travelling at.
Please report this accident on the www.horseaccidents.org.uk web site under road accidents.

 

[AMH]

Goodness, that's horrid - really hope your mare is OK and there's no lasting damage.

We had an accident in our horsebox, many years ago now - the breast bars were wooden and one of the ponies went straight through one of them. He also had a big lump on his chest, but it was just swelling and, with time, completely disappeared, so fingers crossed your mare will be right as rain in no time xx

 

[Gracie21]

Oh god. I am so glad you are both okay!

 

[*hic*]

Remember to get yourself checked out too. You may feel it more in the morning, as may your horse FWIW, when it comes to travelling again a very calm sensible companion might help. My lorry was hit by a white van man and although my horse wasn't injured he used to get very stressed travelling after that when he had always been very good previously. I started to always travel him with a companion and he seemed a lot happier and after a while I was able to ditch the companion and I had my happy travelling horse back again.

 

[stencilface]

Poor you, awful thing to happen

Having been in an accident when the trailer flipped over, and both horses came out of it fine (bar a few scratches) I'm sure your horse will be ok, although the vet may give them something for the trauma I think? Both horses in that accident load fine with no issues, although they weren't too keen on reloading in the recovery horsebox at the side of the M1!

 

[Mince Pie]

Keep an eye on the lump as my gelding had a haematoma last year which abscessed and had to be drained. Claim on the other guys insurance for the vets bills!

 

[PomPomFeathers]

sorry to hear this! So glad you and your horse are ok, keep us posted with vet outcome!

 

[Bionic Boy]

This is my worst nightmare - hope you are both OK

 

[quirky]

I believe it is illegal to travel without a breast bar. May be worth mentioning to the people you know who do travel like that.

Hope horse is okay.

 

[Clippy]

Make sure the other driver pays for vets fees and trailer repairs. He deserves points on his license too for driving like that

 

[Angelbones]

How awful and scary for you and your horse Bloody idiot drivers

I may be overly cautious but personally I'd get my trailer and tow bar etc checked out at a garage; taking on the force of the impact could possibly have damaged the suspension, hitch etc. Worth getting it all checked and adding it to your claim. Peace of mind and all that.

Hope your mare recovers quickly, both mentally and physically.

 

[starryeyed]

omg how terrifying, you poor things! Hope you're both okay, sending lots of hugs your way - must have been horrible.

 

[FlyingCoo]

I've had very similar accident to this a drink driver coming round corner and hit head on into landrover when towing.Glad you are ok.What I would say keep notes of everything and your time for the insurance as I claimed back my time for even looking for a replacement vehicle as landrover was written off.Also depending on the extent of the trailer try and get it written off than repaired.My breaching bars were ripped out the front and trailer badly twisted.It was repaired but had no end of bother with it for years after as it was never the same trailer and should have pushed more on the grounds of future.

 

[bonbeau]

Oh no that's awful, I can't imagine the stress and worry of having an accident with a horse on board.
Fingers crossed she is ok, I don't blame her for not wanting to go on another trailer poor girl! Hope you are both ok

 

[PetalPower]

Thank you all lots for the sympathy -angel bones, have got trailer booked in with dealer for full check and repair if necessary, fortunately insurance have said they will recover costs from 3rd party for that and vets bill. Having vet in the morning as not keen to resume any sort of exercise with her until she has been thoroughly checked out.

Am going to load her again asap, she's usually really laid back and I'm hoping it was just the circumstances of trying to load her in a strange box on a busy road that upset her. I will be gutted if this has a long term effect but will keep you all posted.

Dee O'dorant - ironic that I first began posting on here when I had issues travelling her as she kept falling over and took the advice of travelling her without partitions on her own - she's been fine ever since! Unfortunately that takes away the option of travelling her with a companion.

It has been a horrible day battling with the insurance etc, when all I wanted to do was constantly watch horse for ill - effects - thanks again for all your support. Will let you know if anything untoward occurs with the vet.

PS Owlie185 - have reported it, thanks for the link.

 

[PetalPower]

Update post vet and GP yesterday - vet did some tests and has diagnosed muscle damage to her chest (unsurprising), worse on one side than the other due to site of impact. What I hadn't even considered was neurological damage to her spine, thank god the vet thinks that hasn't happened in this case. I am so glad that I have had her thoroughly checked - she's on bute and rest for a week before vet comes to reassess, please keep everything crossed for her!

Went to GP myself yesterday as neck and shoulder stiff and painful but embarrassingly the shock must have got me and I ended up bawling my eyes out at the doctor. End result, diazepam, anti-inflammatories and sick note with instructions to get physio within next 2 weeks.

Hire car has arrived from insurance and trailer booked for comprehensive check over and repair on Monday, so hopefully I just have to nurse the beloved skewbald one back to health and pray no long-lasting travel issues result.

Am now having big glass of wine and Maltesers if anyone would care to join me.

 

[bunnereeny]

i shall join you if you are sharing te diazapam as well

on a serious note glad you both came away fairly unscathed
bloody idiot drivers have so much to answer for, we all tow our horses around with such care but it seems that our efforts to keep them safe are at time useless.

 

[xxMozlarxx]

So sorry you must be in shock, glad you are safe

 

[MrsMozart]

Yikes! Scary

Glad all are, hopefully, okay.

Definitely get yourself checked out as well.