A woman whose horse was one of two killed in a highway collision reminds drivers to be cautious and to take extra care near livestock trailers that contain living animals.
“People need to know. Cars and trucks and SUVs, they have people in them, right? Horse trailers, I know they’re not people, but there’s still something living in there,” said Amber Mirosovsky.
The incident occurred July 7 as 21-year-old Mirosovsky and her 20-year-old passenger Stacy Sauvie, were travelling southbound on Highway 4.
Mirosovsky, from the Biggar area, was returning home after riding at an event in Spiritwood, Sask.
Three horses,two of which belonged to Mirosovsky the other to Sauvie, were being pulled in a trailer behind her vehicle, said Mirosovsky, when the pair encountered a group of vehicles travelling behind a slow-moving swather.
According to the rural RCMP detachment in North Battleford, Sask., as the southbound traffic slowed behind the swather, a cement truck at the rear of the pack struck the horse trailer and half-ton truck, pushing the vehicle into a small utility trailer being pulled by a minivan.
“I jumped out of my vehicle to see that my whole back end of my trailer was destroyed,” said Mirosovsky.
RCMP responded to the scene, approximately four kilometres north of Cochin, Sask., along with emergency personnel, the department of highways and a North Battleford veterinarian.
While the RCMP reported no injuries, a mare that Mirosovsky had owned for more than a year and Sauvie’s seven-year-old gelding were killed in the accident.
“If my trailer wasn’t behind us, that would’ve happened to my truck and we would’ve been dead. The way we look at it is they died for us and we’re their voice. It was an unnecessary tragedy. It shouldn’t have happened,” said Mirosovsky.
RCMP have charged the driver of the cement truck with driving without due care and attention and failing to properly wear a seatbelt.
The third horse, Mirosovsky’s nine-year-old pregnant mare, survived the collision.
“The vet says that the baby has a strong heartbeat and that the baby should be fine,” she said, although the horse did suffer significant injuries.
“She’s just going to live her days here and just eat grass. That’s going to be her plan,” Mirosovsky said. “I’m 99.9 percent sure her barrel racing career is done.”
Added Sauvie: “It’s just losing a family member when you get a bond like that with a horse.”
