Showgoers see woman killed by a kick from the horse she raised

A woman has died after she was kicked in the head at a show by the horse she raised from a foal.

Kay Sutcliffe, 38, was leading the young animal round the show ring when the animal reared up and struck her twice.

Witnesses said she was wearing a strapless hat which was knocked off.

Yesterday, her husband Richard said he would abide by her wishes and spare the yearling responsible.

The 42-year-old farmer added: "She lived for horses. She'd ridden them since she was a little girl.

'The horse that killed her, she'd reared from a foal and she had high hopes for it as a show horse because it was so well-bred.

"She always said if a horse ever did anything to anybody she did not want them to be put down, so she would not want to see Lady put down."

Mrs Sutcliffe, who had a 12-year-old son, was taken by air ambulance from the Shibden Dale Riding Club Show, near Halifax, to Leeds General Infirmary, on Sunday, but never regained consciousness. The rest of the show was cancelled.

Spectator Vickie Pawson, 18, said crowds were watching as the accident happened.

She added: "Something must have spooked the horse. It suddenly kicked out and struck her in the body while rearing up.

"It then kicked her in the head, knocking her helmet off. She let go of the horse and it ran amok before it was caught.

"It was a very strange accident and almost the safest thing you can do with a horse."

Mr Sutcliffe, from Queensbury, Halifax, said he was working on the farm on Sunday when a friend called him to tell him about the accident.

Scroll down for more ...

Initially he was baffled as to how his wife had been hurt as she wasn't riding Lady.

"I thought she'd been run over or something. I couldn't understand what the horse had done, because she was just leading it round.

"She wasn't riding it. It was such a freak accident. Kay was always really cautious with them. She was always telling me to be careful.

"But they are just dumb animals and they don't know what they're doing. I've worked with them all my life. If it had kicked her in the shoulder she would still be here but it caught her head. It's just a tragic accident."

Mrs Sutcliffe kept two horses, Lady, who was 14 months old, and her mother Charm. She regularly rode the older animal at equestrian events. She had been married for 13 years.

Mr Sutcliffe said the hardest part was telling their son George, who had been staying with his grandparents for the day.

Scroll down for more ...

Paying tribute to his wife he added: "She loved a laugh and a joke. I expected to get to the hospital and she'd be joking that she was rubbish at handling the horses.

"I never for a minute expected that she'd die. It's just devastating."

Show committee member Doreen Kent described the accident. She said: 'The lady was leading the horse in front of the judge.

"She was wearing a helmet but it was a strapless velvet riding hat and was kicked off."

At the weekend, a nationwide ban on animal movements was put in place, following a case of foot and mouth disease in Surrey.

During the 2001 outbreak of the disease, the Sutcliffes' farm became the first in West Yorkshire to be hit and their 140-strong herd of cattle was culled.