Update on Fayette County fair accident involving horse

On Thursday, July 31, 2014, an accident occurred just outside the Fayette County fair that killed a horse. You can visit our previous blog post Multi-vehicle accident involving a horse where we first wrote about the incident. The details of the incident have been updated.

We now know it was a family of four in the vehicle that was traveling on Route 119 South when they struck the horse. The driver says he never even saw what they had hit. The accident occurred during a fireworks show that was going on at the fair. Police have reported, that the fireworks scared the horse, causing it to break free onto the road.

Thursday was the fair’s annual rodeo and horse judging event. Fireworks were originally scheduled for Wednesday according to the fair’s website. The fair then posted on its Facebook page that the fireworks were to be rescheduled for Thursday. Horse owners said they were unaware of the change. They have also expressed that horses do not respond well to fireworks and that the fair board should know that having the two together is not safe.

The family, who struck the horse with their SUV, sustained minor injuries and were released from the hospital Friday morning. A second vehicle rear-ended the SUV after it struck the horse. The driver of that vehicle was flown to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh for treatment. Her injuries are reported to be moderate.

Source:

The Tribune Review, “Driver describes accident that killed fireworks-spooked horse near Fayette fairgrounds”

WPXI, “Fair witnesses: Runaway horse, spooked by fireworks, dies in accident”