Two drivers hit wandering horse
Upset owner blames gate left open
A horse is dead after it was struck by two cars on State Highway 1 at the weekend and police say the drivers were ‘‘very lucky’’ to walk away unharmed.
Sergeant Ian Temple, of Gore, said both drivers were headed north over Brydone Hill, outside Mataura, at 11:30pm on Saturday night when they struck the wandering horse just seconds apart.
A 42-year-old Invercargill man was the first to hit the horse at a speed of about 100kmh. The driver told police the horse jumped before striking the windscreen. The impact threw the horse over the vehicle and in the path of another vehicle about 40 metres behind.
The second car received more damage than the first. Neither driver was injured, Mr Temple said.
They were very lucky to escape unharmed, he said.
If the drivers were killed the farmer would have likely faced charges, Mr Temple said.
Stock straying over public roads usually involved cows and was dangerous to drivers, he said.
‘‘It’s changing land use in Southland that has had a huge impact on wandering stock.
‘‘It’s always a problem and it’s a real danger.’’
Driving over the hill, the drivers ‘‘had no chance to stop whatsoever’’ and the responsibility lay with the farmer, he said.
The horse’s owner, a dairy farmer, said he was upset to lose his only horse, which he rode often.
It was believed the horse got out after a plumber was called to the property on Friday afternoon and left the gate open, the farmer said.
Police investigations into the incident were continuing and charges were possible.
In 2002 a Danish exchange student was killed when she was driving and hit a horse outside the Gore racecourse on State Highway 1.