Dressage horse dies after panicking during Red Arrows flyover

A dressage horse worth £7,000 has died after snapping its spine when he hit his head against a stable door in panic during a Red Arrows flyover.

A post-mortem examination found Alfie had died from a broken second vertebrae following the head first collision, with his death recorded as 5pm last Thursday, the moment the formation flying team flew over his farm in Plymouth, Devon. The Red Arrows were in Plymouth for the Plymouth Airshow.

His owner Laura Head believes he was trying to escape the jets' roar, and is now considering legal action against the Ministry of Defence.

“I looked into the stable and he was lying down with his eyes open and he had blood coming out of his nose – it was horrendous,” said Miss Head, 25.

“He must have been absolutely terrified of the jets because he is usually such a placid horse. To see him like that was just awful.”

Miss Head, who has also launched an official complaint against the RAF, added: “I've now got horrible pictures in my mind of him, which is so sad when he was so perfect – I'll never be able to replace him.”

Miss Head, a dog groomer, added that other people who keep horses at the stables at Staddiscombe said the animals were “going nuts”.

A spokesman for the MoD said the Red Arrows avoid known areas of livestock “wherever” possible.

“Aircrew do not fly over livestock or horses deliberately and will try to avoid them wherever it is safe and practicable to do so,” she said.

“Low-flying training is carried out across the UK to develop and practice the tactics and techniques necessary to ensure the delivery of the full range of air power capabilities.”