A RIDER suffered a fractured pelvis after her horse fell on top of her after being “spooked” by a small dog on Frinton beach.

Essex and Herts Air Ambulance and the East of England Ambulance Service were called to the seafront on Sunday afternoon after the animal fell.

The horse, named Dante, had reared up after spotting a jumping dog before falling and landing on top of owner Emily Mathers.

Emily, 21, from Romford, and her partner Reece had decided to take their horses, including his horse Ted, to the beach for exercise.

The 21-year-old insurance broker said: “When we got to the beach it was quite busy, with lots of families with children and dogs.

“We had a little walk round and thought we would get a photo before we left.

“As we stood, a small dog jumped one of the wave breakers and my horse got spooked, he walked backwards a few steps and reared up.

“His feet must have sunk in the sand and he lost his balance and fell the whole way over, landing directly on top of me.

“He then rolled over onto my right side to get up.

“Lots of bystanders came running over as they saw it happen and said they heard the thud when we hit the ground.

“A lovely man rang the ambulance and as the tide was on the way in the air ambulance was also called along with the coastguard.”

She was taken by ambulance to Colchester Hospital, where she remained for six hours to receive treatment.

Emily added: “I want to say thank you to everyone that stayed and helped and to the lovely man that called the ambulance, also to the people that helped get my horse back on the trailer with my partner.

“I’ve got a slight fracture to my pelvis. The horse is also OK, but I imagine he’s a little sore.”

A spokesman for the air ambulance said crews were called to the scene, shortly after 12.30pm on Sunday.

He added: “The teams worked together on scene to optimise patient outcome.

“The patient was transferred to the emergency department at Colchester Hospital for treatment.”