Rainbow Rider’s Horses Died In Crash

The two horses killed in Saturday night’s car crash belonged to the charity Rainbow Riders.

The two horses killed in Saturday night’s car crash belonged to the charity Rainbow Riders. Two people were seriously injured and two horses died when a vehicle hit several horses at Connewarre in Southern Victoria about 9pm on Saturday night. The horses had apparently crashed through the gate and electric fence and onto the road. Charity owner Chris Cooper thinks something must have spooked the horses; he told local media, The Geelong Advertiser, "The fencing out there is really good but they must have been riled up, they were determined to get out." Police said the vehicle was heading east along the Barwon Heads Road, near Mt Duneed Road, when it struck the horses. The driver ran off the road and came to a stop about 150 metres from the impact site. The injured woman, 18, was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne with head injuries and the injured male driver, 51, was taken to the Geelong Hospital for treatment for chest injuries after being freed from the wreck by SES personnel. The horses, one of which was owned by the charity while the other was owned by a worker, died at the scene. Mr Cooper told media "There was a little horse called Cuddles and the other one was a bigger grey horse. It's really tragic, Cuddles, in particular, was used a lot, to take people on the wagon, so the kids will be really upset." Rainbow Riders is an Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Centre that provides a unique, long term program for disadvantaged young people in the Geelong Community. The program aims to improve self-esteem and confidence, family and peer relationships, and social skills, and encourages healthy choices, behaviour modification, and anger management. {sidebar id=3}