Alex Sanz/Eyewitness News
Nashville - For the Smith family of Mooresville it was a Sunday outing set against a picturesque Horseman's Campground. No one expected their day at Brown County State Park would end the way it did.
"The grandfather and the 4-year-old boy, Austin Smith, were riding their horse," said the park's property manager Doug Baird. "For some reason the horse reared up and threw them both off. They fell off the horse and in the process I believe the boy was struck by the horse. The 4-year-old boy did have a helmet. My understanding, they thought this was the most gentle horse they had."
The boy's grandfather wasn't seriously injured, but Smith died after being taken by helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
"That is not the common occurrence," said experienced rider Claire Panke, preparing for the All American Horse Classic at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. "The safety helmets save many people, both adults and children, from serious injury."
In this case it did not.
"I myself rode in front of my own father as a small child very safely. 99.9% of the time it's a very safe way to enjoy horses. It's only that one percent, that rare occurrence, where something bad happens with a horse."
Riders, she said, are cautioned to know their horse and use common sense. In the case of Austin Smith's death, she said, there was nothing anyone could have done.
