Woman died after horse got 'spooked' by motorbike

A woman died after she was "violently dismounted" from her horse which got spooked by a motorcycle "skidding at speed" around a blind bend, an inquest has concluded.

Jayne Hunt, 55, from Melksham, Wiltshire, died of multiple traumatic injuries on 9 July 2023 after coming off her horse Moomin in Bollands Hill near Seend. The horse was unharmed.

David Ridley, senior coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said Moomin "freaked out" after a motorcyclist came off his bike, causing it to skid across the road towards the horse.

Ridley said the motorbike was approaching the S bend at between 45mph [72km/h] and 61mph [98km/h], with speed a "significant factor in this incident occuring".

Delivering his narrative conclusion, Ridley said how Hunt had fallen into a grass dyke at the side of the road after Moomin, a 16-year-old Irish dapple grey, became distressed by the "sudden sight and sound of a riderless motorcycle and dismounted rider skidding at speed".

The motorcyclist was travelling north into the S bend on Bollands Hill, which has a speed limit of 60mph [96mph].

The bike, which was new and had not been fitted with an anti-lock braking system, was travelling at "no less than 45mph", Ridley added, despite warnings on the road to slow down on approach of the bend.

The motorcyclist applied his brakes heavily which caused the front wheel to lock after he was confronted with the horse, which at the time was in the middle of the bend on the nearside of the road.

This caused the bike to fall with the motorcyclist sliding across the road, Ridley added.

Hunt, who worked as an equine podiatrist and was "incredibly well-respected in the world of horses", had "ridden this route many times," Ridley said.

In a tribute released in 2023, Hunt's family said she was "much loved and will be sadly missed by her family and her huge circle of friends."

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