A Jaffrey woman is urging people be more mindful of the roads after her horse was grazed by a car recently.
Shawna Wallace was riding her horse on the Rindge side of Ingalls Road on Sept. 25 when a speeding car came by and grazed the horse’s leg, knocking Wallace and her horse to the ground.
“I’ve had a lot of close calls, but I’ve never been hit before,” said Wallace, who owns WindChill Miniatures. Wallace said she is OK, but her horse, LA, was shaken up and has a swollen knee.
Wallace said she has long been concerned with the speeding that takes place on Ingalls Road, the road she lives and keeps her horses on.
“Ingalls Road is a direct link for Franklin Pierce University students to town,” said Jaffrey Police Chief Bill Oswalt. “Over the years, there have been concerns of speeding and under-age drinking on that road.”
Rindge Police Chief Todd Muilenberg said his department is working with Franklin Pierce University to see if they can identify the person responsible, but without a license plate number, they are having a hard time identifying the car.
While speeding on a rural road represents its own issues, it is actually illegal to drive recklessly near a horse, according to New Hampshire RSAs.
RSA 265:104 requires any driver that approaches a horse must drive “in such a manner as to exercise every reasonable precaution to prevent the frightening of such horse, and to ensure the safety and protection of any person riding or driving the same.”
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.