15 May 2024

Bram Chardon’s horses unharmed

Yesterday, we brought out the news that Bram Chardon and his outdoor team had an accident Tuesday morning that caused his team to fall in the ditch next to the road. They were on the Smalle Ommedijk in Den Hoorn, at the back of the Chardon family's farm, when a cyclist fell next to the road in front of the team. The two leaders spooked, after which the horses and the carriage ended up in the water.

Today, just over a day later, we spoke to Bram by phone. He is distraught by the event. “We have been driving on the Smalle Ommedijk for years and there is always a lot of bicycle traffic. Nothing has ever happened there before, so it’s very bad luck that it did yesterday. It’s unfortunate that it happened, but at the same time we can count ourselves lucky that the horses and everyone who came to the rescue have so far proved unharmed. The middle of the ditch was quite deep and of course you are really busy for a while before you have all the horses unhitched in such a situation”, Bram told Hoefnet.

Bandages and antibiotics

“I have been in contact with the cyclist’s husband today. She sustained a head injury from her fall. She is doing well regarding the circumstances.” Bram’s horses seem unharmed so far. “We were able to bring them to the sides of the ditch towards the vegetation. There it was a lot shallower, so we could wait for the emergency services. They pulled the horses onto dry land, far enough away from the ditch so that when they got up they could not fall back into the ditch.”

One horse has stitches in its front knee, but nothing more than (abrasion) wounds can be seen on the rest. “All four have been properly checked. They have bandages on their legs to prevent infections. In addition, the wounds are being treated properly and they are receiving antibiotics because the wounds have obviously been exposed to the dirty ditch water.”

“It happened yesterday morning, but in the afternoon we went for a walk with the four of them. They came out of the box without difficulty. This morning we took blood to check the values. It all looked good. If there had been any broken bones or tendon injuries, we should have found out long ago. What further damage, if any, is underneath the wounds, we obviously don’t know. But the wounds look pretty calm so far.”

Saumur will not go ahead

Bram had planned to drive the international competition in Saumur (FRA) next week with this team. “So that is not going to happen. I will give the horses time to recover from this. So, despite the fact that it only seems to be superficial damage, I will not start in Saumur. What the rest of the season will look like, that is still unclear. First we’ll go for the health of the horses, then we’ll see.”

Bram and his team this morning

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