Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stressors agitated horse in joyride mishap: Coroner

SINGAPORE — A combination of stress factors, including working over four hours on that particular day, led a retired racehorse to become agitated and rise on its hind legs, said the State Coroner yesterday, in delivering his findings on an elderly woman’s death.

Horses at Gallop Stable in Punggol Ranch. Photo: Facebook

Horses at Gallop Stable in Punggol Ranch. Photo: Facebook

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — A combination of stress factors, including working over four hours on that particular day, led a retired racehorse to become agitated and rise on its hind legs, said the State Coroner yesterday, in delivering his findings on an elderly woman’s death.

Madam Lim Ah Boey, 73, was thrown off the rearing horse after a joyride at Punggol Ranch, owned by Gallop Stable. Before she could get up, the 450kg horse fell on her. She suffered multiple injuries, including fractures to her pelvis and injuries to her heart and right coronary artery, and died in hospital shortly after.

The coroner’s inquiry had earlier heard that on Nov 14, 2015, Mdm Lim went to the ranch with her family to celebrate her grandson’s birthday. Sometime after 5.30pm, she went on a joyride on a nine-year-old male thoroughbred named Goku, guided by stable employee Brian Tan.

After the ride, Mr Tan guided the horse to a brick mounting block, for Mdm Lim to dismount. However, she could not do so as the horse was too far away from the block. Three more attempts were made to dismount, but they were unsuccessful. On the final attempt, Mr Tan tapped the horse on the shoulder to coax it to move.

Another staff member, Ms Wan Jasma Zuraini Wan Jalani, came over, slapping the horse on the rear, and asking Mdm Lim to dismount without the block. She managed to remove her leg from the stirrups, but became panicky. That was when Mr Tan and Ms Jasma decided to use a mobile platform for the dismount.

Before they could do so, the horse suddenly reared twice, causing Mdm Lim to tumble off. The horse also lost its balance and landed on its back, on top of her. It struggled for about 10 minutes, trapped in a 50cm space between the block and a drain, before standing up.

Mdm Lim was pronounced dead at Changi General Hospital at 7pm.

During an examination, Dr Miles McNickle, a veterinarian, found that Goku was quiet and easy to handle. The rearing could have been caused by factors such as loud noises, sudden pain and aggression from others, he said.

In his findings, State Coroner Marvin Bay agreed with Mr Jeremy David Michaels, a British Horse Society fellow, that Goku had reared because it had been “upset, agitated and possibly felt trapped”, after being tapped on the shoulder, hit on the rear and ridden by a panicking Mdm Lim.

During investigations into the incident, another rider said that she had helped to take Goku out of its stall for joyrides during the scheduled feeding time starting from 12.30pm, and was unaware whether the horse had been fed. An instructor who returned the horse to its stall after the incident noted that its lunchtime feed was still in the stall, and the horse appeared “ravenous”.

“Evidence points to Goku likely not having been fed his afternoon meal, and also having worked for more than four hours that day. It is also possible that Ms Jasma had slapped Goku after she intervened...” said Mr Bay. “A combination of the stressors listed above would have led to Goku becoming agitated and stressed, and which in turn, had precipitated its rearing.”

He ruled Mdm Lim’s death as a “truly tragic misadventure”.

Mr Bay noted that Gallop Stable had changed its joyride protocols after this incident, replacing the permanent brick mounting block with portable platforms and implementing a two-person system, with a staff member and an assistant accompanying the rider.

Commenting on the coroner’s findings, a Gallop Stable spokesperson said that Goku had been fed “hay and cubes” for lunch that day. He added that there was a timetable for joy rides, and the horses and ponies worked a maximum of two hours daily.

In May, Gallop Stable was fined S$9,000 for animal cruelty after a separate retired racehorse was found in a bad shape.

Outside the court, Mdm Lim’s granddaughter Stacy Low, 33, told reporters that she was disappointed with the findings, as she felt that Gallop Stable should have taken responsibility for “what was not being done”.

“A lot of things could have been done. If a person panicking could lead to a horse being agitated, then don’t let it be a joyride,” said Ms Low, adding that joyrides could be regulated.

She added that her family was still discussing whether to take legal action against the stable.

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.