A horse lay in the road surrounded by a pool of blood after being spooked by a careless motorist.

Two friends were riding in carts pulled by horses along Bedmond Road, in Bedmond, when they became separated by the motorway bridge leading to Abbots Langley.

Shannon Mckay, 22, from Uxbridge Road in Rickmansworth, had gone ahead to turn around by the dairy farm after her friend’s horse had become spooked by the sound of the traffic.

Rachel Payne, 26, from Mayflower Road in St Albans, was waiting for her friend to come back over the bridge when she was alerted by passing cars that there had been an accident.

As Miss Mckay prepared her horse to turn, a white BMW sped past.

The roar of the engine and the gravel that was kicked up by the wheels spooked her horse, causing the mare to fall over the wooden posts, trapping her leg.

Miss Mckay said: “I thought she was dead. There was blood but I couldn’t work out where it was coming from, I was so upset.”

“I find that if I’m riding on the road the cars are fine and respectable, but as soon as it’s a horse-drawn cart, they race past at 50mph because we are travellers.”

A couple passing by and a cyclist stopped to help Miss Mckay get the mare back up, as it is dangerous for horses to be down for a long period of time.

Once Miss Payne arrived at the scene on her horse, she called others from the stables who came to the rescue.

Miss Payne said: “Cars were just driving past starring as the horse lay on her side with her head down.

“It’s so important for cars to be aware of horses on the road, in the same way they are for cyclists. Horses were here before cars, so please be careful.”

As the team of people pulled the horse up, blood poured from her leg and the cart was ruined.

Luckily for Shandy the horse, she was not seriously injured and is on the mend.