A 13-year-old Hollister girl was flown to a hospital with
bleeding in her brain after her scared horse fell Sunday on San
Benito Street after something was thrown at the animal.
HOLLISTER
A 13-year-old Hollister girl was flown to a hospital with bleeding in her brain after her scared horse fell Sunday on San Benito Street after something was thrown at the animal.
Sara Wittry, a seventh-grade Rancho San Justo School student, was in stable condition Monday, her family reported. She may have a fractured elbow from the fall, which happened about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, said her mother, Regina Wittry.
She was riding Kitty, the family’s 9-year-old quarter-horse, along San Benito Street when someone threw what the family believes was either an orange or an apple at the horse’s hind legs. The horse was upset and began running down San Benito Street, Regina Wittry said. Eventually Kitty slid and fell to her knees and landed on her side, slamming Sara Wittry to the street on her head.
The girl was flown by helicopter to a San Jose hospital, and transferred to a pediatrics unit where she had remained Monday, Regina Wittry said.
The family wants to know who scared the animal.
“People just need to realize it’s not funny to scare a horse,” Regina Wittry said.
Family members drove out to where the girl was flung from the horse and found an apple in the street gutter, Regina Wittry said. Kitty was found hours after the incident in the San Benito River bed near the Southside Road ranch. The horse had scrapes on its knees.
Regina Wittry said her daughter has been riding for four years. Sara had been on a double ride with a friend before dropping her off at the San Benito High School band room and heading for a Southside Road ranch where the horse is kept.
Sara Wittry rides Kitty into Hollister on a regular basis, her mother said.
“She’s taken the horse through the Burger King drive through,” Regina Wittry said.
She’ll miss the rest of the school week and can’t participate in the Dec. 2 San Jose Holiday Parade as a member of the Rancho San Justo Marching Band.
San Benito County Undersheriff Pat Turturici said the sheriff’s office is investigating the incident.
“We interviewed the mother of the victim and we’re going to find out if we can do something about it,” Turturici said.
Anyone with information about the incident should call the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office at (831) 636-4080.
