Pumpkin patch visit ends with emergency room visit for 2-year-old bucked off pony ride, mother says

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – What was meant to be a perfect fall October day turned into a mother’s nightmare.

Like many families, Emily Bowes along with her 2-year-old daughter, visited Dave’s Pumpkin Patch in West Sacramento to get in on the fall festivities, CBS Sacramento reports.

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The day took a turn when the little girl went for a pony ride and was bucked off by the horse.

“We’re going around and the horse started to buck her off and you could just see her flopping around like a rag doll,” Bowes said.

According to CBS Sacramento, the mother was able to remove her daughter off the horse 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.”

According to Dave’s Pumpkin Patch owner David Vierra, the pony ride attraction is vend by Armando’s Pony Pals.

Vierra said Armando’s Pony Pals has been a vendor there for thirty years and they are good with their horses; however, it wasn’t until after the pony ride that the Bowes family said they were told the horse was aggressive, CBS Sacramento reports.

“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.”

According to the report, Vierra said he’s talked to the pony vendor and the aggressive horse has been pulled 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.”


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