October 20, 2008

Napier equestrienne Lydia Mitchell is counting her lucky stars after rescuing her two horses from a float fire, foretold by her mother in an offhand quip as the family headed home after a successful campaign at the Poverty Bay Show in Gisborne.
The 20-year-old Napier woman lost almost everything she owned, but managed to snatch a riding boot containing the proceeds of a horse sale, as the float and the Nissan Safari erupted in flames near the Wharerata Lookout on State Highway 2, just after 4pm on Saturday.
Less than an hour earlier, mother Christina unsuccessfully tried to get her to hand over the money for safe-keeping, telling her: 'You'll have an acciden. The truck will catch fire and it will all get burnt.'
But the horsewoman was not giving anything up, despite pleas from shocked motorists to get clear of the truck and float before they were engulfed.
She ignored thick, black smoke and flames to rescue 5-year-old gelding I Kan Do and 15-year-old mare Lady Rose. She then grabbed the money from behind the back seat of the truck.
Mitchell was left only with the clothes she was standing in, also losing new clothes she had bought with some of the proceeds from the horse-sale during a week away at the first big show of the summer.
There were no injuries to the horses, their rescuer and her only passenger, but reflecting on what might have happened, she said: 'It was pretty close.'
She had been driving uphill when the vehicle's engine overheated. Worried about pulling over because of vehicles behind her, she had just reached the summit when she and her passenger noticed the smoke, stopped and leapt out.
'The flames were already coming out underneath,' she said. 'Everyone was saying `Get out, get out of the way, it's going to explode', but I thought, like, `No way ... no way'.'
The horses co-operated calmly and, as the flames completed their destruction, munched grass before being loaded on to a truck driven by Hawke's Bay horse scene identity Warwick Hansen. The firefighters arrived to extinguish the last of the flames as a road crew working nearby hauled the ruined truck and float into the layby at the lookout.
'All my gear's burnt,' Mitchell said. 'Saddles, helmets, bridles, jackets, tack gear, feed, bandages, blankets, tents ...'
'But all I was worried about was my horses. All they were interested in was the grass.'
It had otherwise been a successful trip, with I Kan Do winning at his first show for Mitchell, and Lady Rose continuing the form which has brought a number of successes over the years, including helping her rider become a Hawke's Bay representative.
Pony clubs district commissioner Don Alexander, who owned the truck and float and has mentored Mitchell for about 10 years as well as employing her at his Onekawa joinery, said he expected the fraternity to help the gifted rider, who will ride at the Hawke's Bay Show this week.
He was not surprised by the courage she showed.
'She's got an attraction with animals, whether it's a horse or a dog or whatever,' he said.