Family terrified as spooked horse jumps on car roof

Georgina Robins was driving in her silver Mitsubishi Shogun car near Sackville Farm, Lower Road, Herstmonceux, at 10am on Saturday.

She was with her two-year-old son and mother on a shopping outing.

Mrs Robins said: 'I can still see the horse in my mind now.

'We were driving around the bend and the horse came round the corner without a rider.

'I remember my son saying "horsey".

'The horse just kept coming at us and jumped on top of the car.

'He smashed the windscreen and came through the sunroof but luckily his legs didn't come through.'

Mrs Robins, from Magham Down, Hailsham, said the horse seemed to be on top of the car for ages before it rolled off into a nearby ditch.

The family were covered in glass and had a second fright when another riderless horse bolted around the corner.

Luckily this horse avoided the car and galloped past, and a man working in a nearby field then helped the family get out of the car.

She added: 'My son was as white as a ghost.

'It was pretty frightening.'

The family was taken to hospital by ambulance but discharged themselves as they had no physical injuries.

The Mitsubishi car had to be towed away from the scene and the horse was winched out of the ditch by an animal rescue unit from Crowborough.

A vet examined the horse but did not find significant injuries.

It is believed the horses panicked after collie dogs barked at them and threw their riders onto the road before bolting,

A police spokesman said one woman was treated for concussion and back pain, and another woman also suffered back pain.