West Sacramento Pumpkin Patch Pony Ride Ends With Family Trip To ER
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A mother went to the emergency room after her 2-year-old daughter was nearly thrown from a horse at Dave's Pumpkin Patch in West Sacramento.
"We're going around and the horse started to buck her off and you could just see her flopping around like a rag doll," Emily Bowes, the mother of the girl, said.
Bowes said she was able to get her daughter off the animal safely but not without escaping injury of her own.
"The horse kicked me three times to get away," Bowes said. "On the x-rays, you can see the bones not broken, but it's a deep muscle bone bruise and it's going to spread from the knee to the ankle."
Bowes said that after a trip to the ER, she was saddled with medical bills.
"Armando's Pony Pals does have a valid liability policy," said David Vierra, who owns the pumpkin patch. "He'd be more than happy to take care of that."
Vierra said Armando's Pony Pals has been a vendor there for thirty years.
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"It's been my experience with Armando's pony pals that they're very good with these horses," Vierra said.
But it wasn't until after the pony ride that the Bowes family said they were told the horse was aggressive.
"Why would you have an aggressive horse out here? Armando was very flippant," Bowes said. "He was just, "You better get a good lawyer,' and he didn't care if we were hurt or if she was hurt."
Vierra said he's talked to the pony vendor, who's pulled the aggressive horse out of the rotation.
"We have thought about maybe it's time for the ponies to not be here any longer," Vierra said. "We just have valued customers who come every year to do a pony ride. [I'm] 100% grateful that there wasn't any more severe injuries."