A horse trailer traveling from Minnesota to Kentucky that was carrying 53 horses overturned and rolled down an embankment just north of Lawrenceburg, Ind., on Route 1 early Wednesday evening. At least 24 horses are dead after the accident, while two horses suffered major injuries and others had minor injuries.Many of the area equine veterinarians were out of town at a continuing education conference at Purdue University, so only one veterinarian, Dr. John Nenni, of Bright Veterinary Clinic in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and several veterinary technicians were available to tend to the injured animals at the accident scene."The horses that had major injuries that would inhibit their continuation were euthanatized at the scene. Those that had minor injuries, such as lacerations and colic, were loaded back on another trailer after treatment and are now believed to be at their intended destination on a farm in Kentucky," said Nenni.
Many of the horses that survived the crash are believed to have been flung out of the trailer as it was rolling down the hill, preventing them from being crushed inside the trailer and cut with twisted pieces of metal."All of the horses were on a double-decker cattle trailer," Nenni continued. "I assume they came from an auction in Minnesota because they were wearing rump tags." The horses are thought to have been purchased to be trained and resold for riding mounts.The driver of the trailer, Kristopher Ramey, is not facing any charges at the time, according to Dearborn County Sherriff Captain Mike Horton. Horton says the two-lane stretch of road the trailer was traveling on is frequently used by tractor trailer drivers in order to avoid weigh stations. He says this causes many traffic accidents since it's a 55-mph country road that is not suited for large vehicles at high speeds.