‘He died in her arms’: Trainer cradles dying race horse after head-on crash with van

A racing trainer cradled her dying horse after a devastating head-on crash, it has been revealed.

Karen Mclintock knelt beside Rocky after his horse transporter had its side ripped off and flipped over during a collision with a van.

The van had veered onto the wrong side of the road, said Graeme Scantlebury, who was transporting the horse last Wednesday.

“We ran around the wagon to find poor Rocky breathing his last breaths as Karen, the most caring of trainers, became inconsolable as he died in her arms,” he said.

Posting on Facebook, Mr Scantlebury said he tried to avoid the van by driving off the road but “sadly, this was not good enough and the van still hit us at probably a combined speed of over 100mph”.

“The impact was so hard it flipped my 2500kg wagon carrying a 450kg horse onto its side, completely ripping the side off like the top of a sardine can,” he added.

Other drivers helped the pair escape the vehicle “with barely a scratch on us”, but Rocky could not be saved.

“When we set off that day we did not deserve what happened and Rocky did not deserve to die. He was a kind horse that only ever wanted to please,” said Mr Scantlebury.

The horse had been to a race meeting earlier in the day and was travelling back on the A15 in Lincolnshire when the crash happened.

“Rocky ran well in his first hurdle race, the owners were happy and Karen celebrated her birthday with a glass of wine along side the owners,” said Mr Scantlebury.

“We left the race course with Rocky loaded fine. He started tucking into his hay like a little super star and we set off.”

Mr Scantlebury said he had spent the “last two days bursting into tears for no apparent reason” but wanted to share the photos to encourage people to take care on the roads.

Lincolnshire Police are understood to be investigating the circumstances of the crash.

(c) Sky News 2019: ‘He died in her arms’: Trainer cradles dying race horse after head-on crash with van