Horse dies at rodeo event in Canterbury
A horse died after hitting a fence at the Rodeo National Finals in north Canterbury.
A spectator, who did not want to be named, said a horse and rider were competing in the bare-back riding event in Mandeville when the incident happened at about 2.30pm yesterday. ‘‘The horse did a couple of circles and then ran into a fence and dropped over onto the rider,’’ he said.
‘‘The horse bolted and ran straight into a fence.’’
He said the rider was uninjured. Organisers raised a tarpaulin around the horse to conceal it from the crowd and turned up the music, he said.
‘‘Then they took the horse out under a tarpaulin and put it on a pallet in front of a tractor. It is still there in the car park.’’
New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association president Lyal Cocks said he felt terrible about the horse death.
‘‘I always do when there is an accident with an animal,’’ he said.
‘‘I am putting together a report for MPI [Ministry for Primary Industries] now. All the details will be there. I can’t say anything more at the moment.’’
He said the death should not put a dampener on the national finals, which he said had drawn ‘‘a really respectable crowd’’
Animal rights group SAFE protested the rodeo event in the morning before the horse death. SAFE media manager Will Appelbe said: ‘‘This goes to show the inherent cruelty in the rodeo and why it needs to be stopped.’’