Sonora horse killed after being dragged nearly 4 miles behind trailer

SONORA -- A horse was killed Monday night after it was dragged for nearly 4 miles behind a trailer, police said.

Chief Mark Stinson said a Jamestown woman, 55, and her two daughters went riding Monday at a ranch on Jamestown Road. The daughters loaded two horses into a trailer attached to a 1999 Dodge pickup.

The woman usually checks to make sure the trailer’s door is secured but did not in this case, Stinson said.

The accident is under investigation but authorities believe the trailer’s back door wasn’t secured. The door opened and the horse either stepped out of the trailer or was forced out by the vehicle’s acceleration, Stinson said.

The horse, which was on a tether, was dragged an estimated three and three-quarters miles along roads with speed limits of 45 mph in some places, Stinson said.

At about 8 p.m. a passer-by alerted the woman that the horse was behind the trailer at the intersection of Stockton Road and State Route 49. The other horse, apparently on a shorter tether, stayed inside and was unharmed.