A 13-year-old girl has survived a ‘freak’ riding accident, after her half-ton horse fell on top of her.

The Hartlepool Mail reports that Katie Tough was trapped beneath her horse Coco in a fall. Katie was crushed beneath the weight of her pony and had to be airlifted to hospital.

The accident happened at around 1pm on Easter Monday (06/04/10), when Katie was riding Coco at the Blue House Farm livery, near Dalton Piercy on the outskirts of Hartlepool. Katie was with her friend Caitlin Donnelly from Hartlepool in a field next to the livery stable.

She was cantering in the field when Coco stumbled after one of her legs became stuck in a hole. The horse fell, trapping Katie beneath her weight and knocking her unconscious for a couple of seconds.

Caitlin raised the alarm and when paramedics arrived, Katie was secured to a spinal board and was airlifted by the Great North Air Ambulance crew to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

However, after X-rays and further tests, she was found to be suffering from bruising and is now recovering.

‘Coco's foot went in a massive puddle and she smacked her head off the floor. I fell off and she fell on top of me. It was awful. I passed out for a few seconds,’ said Katie.

’The doctors said I'm lucky to have no broken bones. I'm not a little sore – I'm a lot sore – but I'll live.

‘I'd like to thank the air ambulance crew,’ she added.

Coincidentally, the air ambulance team was joined by a camera crew from Sky TV for a documentary to be screened in the summer, and so Katie’s flight to hospital was captured on camera.

Air ambulance paramedic, Colin Clark, who attended the scene, said:

‘With the horse landing on Katie, she has been extremely lucky.’

Coco was unhurt.

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