Show horse dies after falling out of trailer in Fort Collins

A show quarter horse belonging to a young girl fell out of the back of a trailer and died near the intersection of Mulberry Street and Interstate 25 on Friday morning.

When Luke Bass, a Colorado State University veterinarian, arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after the incident reported at 9:30 a.m., he said he gave the 8-year-old medication to ease the pain but the horse's condition quickly worsened and the horse was subsequently humanely euthanized.

"He was in really bad shape,'' Bass said.

Bass was called to the scene by the horse's owners, who live in Fort Collins, because he is the family's veterinarian. He said the mother and daughter who were in the pickup hauling the trailer were taking the horse to a veterinarian when the incident occurred along Mulberry Street at the Northeast Frontage Road.

It is unknown how the rear trailer door of the horse trailer opened.

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"The mother was distraught and in shock,'' Bass said. "It was her daughter's horse so she was trying to deal with the horse and her daughter.''

The horse was not struck by a vehicle when it fell out of the back of the trailer but fell on the road and landed in the far right merging lane of eastbound Mulberry, according to Bass. Bass said the horse died of blunt force trauma to the head from falling out of the trailer. 

Poudre Fire Authority and Fort Collins police responded to the incident, which closed a merging lane from the frontage road onto Mulberry. Responders had the horse removed and road reopened about 90 minutes after the incident.