Blog

A heartbroken horse owner told Bristol Live how she blames the Bristol Balloon Fiesta for the injury and subsequent death of her beloved horse, who she says was injured when she was spooked by hot air balloons flying over her paddock.

The animal in question, a high-level dressage horse named Dav, suffered a serious leg injury when he reared up and tried to escape from his open paddock while a large number of balloons were being floated up early in the morning during the festivities in 2021.

The injury ended his dressage career and never healed properly, so his owner Andrea Cox made the heartbreaking decision to put him to sleep last month.

Read Next: Inside Shocking Puppy Farm Discovered In Bristol

Dav was one of several horses stabled at Ram Hill in Coalpit Heath, near Bristol, that morning in August 2021. Due to Covid, instead of having the traditional four-day event at Ashton Court, the party organizers organized a series of events, mass ascents and flights during the first two weeks of August of that year, including mass ascents taking off from different parts of the city.

Andrea said her friend, who also rides horses at the Ram Hill paddock, called to tell her that the horses were freaking out because a large number of balloons were flying over them.

“I got there as soon as I could. The balloons were still in the sky, and we concentrated on calming the horses and getting them inside. Dav was clearly hurt,” Andrea said.

Video footage from that day shows the large Welsh gelding trying and failing to walk properly as he is led across the paddock. Andrea said that in addition to the severe leg injury, she initially thought he was also mentally traumatized by what happened.

“I thought it was neurological, the problems he had. He spent two days at the big animal hospital near Berkeley and they found out he had a broken bone in his foot. He had to wear special shoes and was confined for five months. Then I had to walk with him hand in hand for a few more months, just for him to get back up and walk again,” he added.

Injury brought his dressage career to a halt: Dav was an affiliated dressage horse and Andrea competed with him at a high level. Dav was 15 when the balloons arrived and Andrea said that she hoped he would be a good dressage training horse as he got older.

But the injury meant he could no longer do the required movements and steps, so a new role as a racehorse was found for him last year.

“Even that wasn’t going to be,” Andrea said, and as 2022 turned into 2023, she explained: “It got worse and worse, and I couldn’t even do that. It was not life for him not to be able to walk or run properly, so we had to put him to sleep. It’s heartbreaking. He was a stunning horse, I had him 13 and he was 17. I would have expected him to live well into his 20s,” she added.

Andrea contacted the balloon party to report the incident, saying that she and her friend counted up to 20 balloons that floated over the paddock that morning.

Two officials from the party arrived the next day to speak with her and investigate what happened and obtain information about the flight, she says. “They misled me a bit and said it would be hard to prove which particular balloons had been closest,” says Andrea. Eventually, she was given the details of three balloon pilots whose flight data showed they flew directly over the paddock, but Andrea’s attempts to claim her insurance for damages and bills failed.

“So I went to the balloon party itself. They advertise these things as a ‘massive climb’, and I think it was the ‘massive’ part of it (all the balloons coming at once) that scared Dav and the other horses. One or two balloons would not have done that, it was the fact that there were a lot of them at once,” he added.

But Andrea’s attempts to take legal action against Balloon Fiesta itself, or to claim the party’s insurance have also been rejected and rejected by the party, for two reasons. First, there was no evidence that the balloons were flying too low over the paddock, and second, the area where the horses were was not designated as a no-low-fly zone. Landowners can signal that demand to the balloon pilots and the party, and they will avoid flying below 1,000 feet over that space, or overflying it. But because Andrea had not done so ahead of time, the party held that she was not responsible for what happened to Dav.

“It feels very frustrating. She had no idea that the no-fly zone existed, because this had never happened before. It didn’t have a low no-fly zone, because why would it have to? The balloons rarely go out that far. This is a horse area, and there are many paddocks with many horses throughout this part of the field,” she added.

Faced with the costs of all the bills and the loss of Dav, Andrea said she is not in a position to pay to take costly legal action against the balloon party to challenge their position. “I’m so out of pocket I can’t even afford another horse,” she said.

In legal letters to Ms. Cox, seen by bristol livelawyers for the balloon party and the three pilots who had been identified as closest to the paddock said they would contest any claims they had done something wrong, flown too low or were responsible for Dav’s injury.

A spokesman for the Bristol International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta said bristol live: “The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is a non-profit organisation, responsible for organizing the annual balloon fiesta which takes place at Ashton Court, Bristol. In 2021, the party could not take place due to pandemic restrictions, but several flights were made from a variety of locations throughout the city.

“The party learned that during one of those flights, several balloons flew near a field where a horse (Dav) was stabled and that the horse had been injured. Our Land Owner Relations Team visited the property and discussed the situation with the owner. These discussions have continued for many months.

“All hot air balloons are required by law to carry appropriate and adequate insurance, and the party identified and transmitted to the owner the details of the hot air balloons it had identified as being near the location on the day in question. Unfortunately, the insurance companies for these balloons did not accept liability. Following this, the party passed the claim on to their own insurers, who subsequently appointed an expert to independently consider the claim,” he added.

The insurer’s conclusions are as follows: “While it is quite clear that Dav’s ill-health and the resulting consequences have been devastating for you, both financially and emotionally, I must advise that BIBF is not accepted.” legally responsible for Dav’s injuries. In stating this, we point out that BIBF had no control over the operation of individual balloons. The individual balloons/pilots of course had their own insurance in relation to any potential negligence. I have also not seen evidence, to show that any balloon flew unreasonably close to his/Dav’s property.

“I understand that, prior to the incident, there was no request that the location of the stables/land be considered a ‘sensitive area.’ Further, I understand that individual balloon pilots do not accept that they flew directly over the stables/land, or at less than 1000ft above mean sea level in any case. Even if you were to prove that they did, it is denied that this would confer liability on BIBF. In all circumstances, while I have great sympathy regarding your experience /predication, I must inform you that the legal responsibility is not granted by or on behalf of BIBF, and therefore, I cannot make any offer of compensation on this occasion,” the statement added.

The balloon party spokesperson said everyone involved with the event and all the balloons were sorry to hear about Dav’s passing and the heartbreak this had caused.

“The party and the community of hot air balloon pilots and enthusiasts are passionate about their sport, as are many people who enjoy owning and riding horses. They are both just as committed and passionate about their hobby and sport as each other,” he said.

“The hot air ballooning community and Fiesta are very sorry to hear of Dav’s passing and the heartache it has caused. We work throughout the year on building positive relationships with owners so the party can take place and balloonists can fly balloons in the local area and we will continue to take a proactive approach in these relationships to ensure we do everything we can to mitigate any problem. for the future,” he added.

Read more:

Follow the latest updates to this story and others like it here.