Horse Recovering After

Boggs Hill Road Accident

By Andrew Gorosko

A local equestrian who was riding his horse along Boggs Hill Road about 4 pm on Thursday, September 2, was involved in a vehicular accident when a passing trailer that was being hauled by a truck struck the horse, putting a sizable gash in the animal’s rump.

Horseman David McCauley, 75, of 8 Rock Ridge Road was riding his 1,400-pound reddish brown gelding quarter horse, known as Cyrano, with traffic on the right side of Boggs Hill Road, about 500 feet south of Boggs Hill Road’s intersection with Palestine Road. When Mr McCauley heard traffic approaching from behind, he rode the horse off the side of the road onto a dirt area, police report.

A school bus that was passing by apparently startled the horse, causing the horse to turn its rear end toward the street and then back up, police said.

A truck, which was hauling a trailer containing construction equipment, then passed by, after which the horse continued to act distressed, police said.

Mr McCauley then realized that the horse’s tail had been injured by passing trailer being hauled by the unidentified truck.

Although upset by the incident, Mr McCauley was not physically injured.

After the accident, police responded to Foxview Farm at 25 Hundred Acres Road, where Mr McCauley had ridden the animal after it was injured, seeking the aid of a veterinarian. Mr McCauley boards the horse at the farm. It is about a mile from the accident scene.

Police said they checked the general area for the type of construction equipment that is believed to have struck the horse, but were unable to identify the vehicle that may have been involved.

Mr McCauley said he thinks the truck’s driver may not have realized that he had struck the horse and just continued onward. The horseman was riding alone when the incident occurred.

Cyrano, age 19, is a good field and trail horse who is sensitive to sound, Mr McCauley said.

Mr McCauley this week urged that motorists exercise caution when they encounter horses being ridden on roads. Horses have the right-of-way over vehicles under state law, he said. Motorists should slow down and give horses a wide berth when they encounter them, he said.

Police plan to conduct radar patrols near the accident scene .