Amish Horse Collapse

Thursday night I picked up Eric from playing basketball at the open gym. On our way home we saw a horse and buggy way ahead of us and I commented to Eric that they were going a fast clip. We began to catch up just before our four corners and I noticed my speedometer tracking between 20 – 25 mph. As we caught up the horse and buggy swerved into the left lane and then made a sharp turn back into the right lane. The horse fell. We pulled our car over to the side, turned on the emergency flashers and I asked Eric to watch and signal to any approaching traffic. The horse refused ignored the urges of the young driver and remained down, sweating profusely with rapid breathing. I helped unhook the horse from the buggy and rolled it back out of the way. The horse remained down and a small pool of blood was forming under his mouth; the horse was biting his tongue. The driver said the horse had been running away with him and indicated this wasn’t the 1st time he had done so. A pickup truck approached with man who asked how long the horse had been down and if he had been drugged or gotten into green apples. He tried to calm the breathing of the horse by slightly constricting his nostrils. After about 10 minutes the horse stood up – unsteady and still sweating and panting. The horse was led to a nearby house to get water. Eric and I left.