Loose Horse's Liberty Jumping Demonstration on Highway

A few weeks ago I posted a disturbing photo of a Haflinger horse in Germany that did not survive a crash with a car on a road. The horse jumped right through the windshield of the oncoming car and was killed. No one in the car was injured.

Today we can look at the flip side of that. This dramatic scenario unfolded in Israel. Three loose horses trot down the highway into the path of an oncoming car. The first two horses swerve out of the way but the third leaps right over it, although his hooves apparently went through the windshield.

I would have liked to have seen the car afterwards, since if you stop the video in mid-jump, it looks like he makes contact with the roof, too but as it was moving in the opposite direction, the opposing forces of two moving bodies may have been enough to get the car under him more than it got the horse over the car.

American tourists with a video camera in a car going in the opposite direction caught this drama on video.



Thanks to Horse and Hound for alerting me to this video and to ITN for somehow getting it from the tourists and posting it on YouTube so it could be shared with you! I think Israel should recruit this horse for their eventing team. He puts new meaning to the line in a classified "will jump anything you put in front of him". I bet he'd sell on equine.com. And I think I know how he may have gotten loose; if this horse will jump a car, how much respect will he have for a fence?

Why Horses and Highways Don't Mix

by Fran Jurga | 21 June 2009 | The Jurga Report

Pferd im Auto, originally uploaded by T.J's photos.

This shocking photo is posted just as a reminder of how bad things can turn out when horses get loose. Four horses escaped from a field in Germany and were in a road; this Haflinger was hit by this car and ended up diving head first through the windshield and was killed.

Amazingly enough, the driver of the car was unhurt, except for shock.

Thanks to T.J.'s photos for posting this image by Klaus Ponner. I hope it doesn't disturb people too much but it is quite haunting in that it looks almost like an art installation. It's tragic.

Have you checked your fences lately? Are you sure you closed the gate?