More News

Horse handlers urged to use ‘common sense’

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005

The Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) said a horse escaping from the Prince George’s Equestrian Center, colliding with a car and killing a motorist was a ‘‘freak accident.”

The incident was the first of its kind, said Anita Pesses, spokesperson for M-NCPPC, which owns the center.

The horse escaped from an open gate on Sept. 15 after being left unbridled. It then ran to Route 4 in Upper Marlboro and bolted in front of the car of Frances Ann ‘‘Fran” Imwalle, 39, of Anne Arundel County. She died later that day at Prince George’s Hospital in Cheverly due to injuries sustained in the accident.

The equestrian center rents space to horse shows and other events. Pesses said the center expects handlers to make use of safety mechanisms. ‘‘The area is gated. [Handlers] left the gate open,” she said. ‘‘We expect that people keep them shut.”

The handler could not be located for comment.

Pesses said show horse handlers were responsible for the care of the horse. ‘‘The equestrian center does not handle horses,” she said. ‘‘These shows come in and people have their way of handling [them],” she said, adding that the open gate and unbridled horse were unusual.

The Maryland State Police took the accident report after the horse and car collided, and Sgt. Robert Lipsky said police are currently investigating the incident.

‘‘It’s still going on—the investigation,” he said. ‘‘It’s just a matter of [finding out] how the horse got out.”

He said police were interviewing the people responsible for the horse, adding that the department has dealt with cows and other animals on the road, but never horses.

If police find that there was no malicious intent, Lipsky said no charges would be filed.

Imwalle worked as a payroll manager at Stromberg Metal Works in Beltsville for more than 20 years.

Tish Suhr, who is an employee at the company, said Imwalle was a dedicated mother of two and had just started taking college classes.

‘‘Fran lost her parents at a young age, and because of this she wanted the best for her children,” Suhr wrote in a statement. ‘‘She volunteered at their schools when they were younger. She was involved in her son’s motorcross, by taking him to races every weekend and working on the bike with him.”

Funeral services for Imwalle were held last week, and Suhr said Imwalle would be ‘‘greatly missed.”

As for prevention of a similar incident, Pesses said providing gates and instruction to handlers is about the limit of what M-NCPPC can do.

She said she hoped people running shows at the equestrian center would communicate with participants about how to properly handle their horses.

‘‘It’s a tragic situation,” Pesses said. ‘‘Hopefully people running shows would advise handlers to use common sense.”

E-mail Leslie Quander Wooldridge at lwooldridge@gazette.net.