Woman dies in riding accident

The unnamed 52-year-old, an experienced rider, appears to be have been thrown by her mount.

Her body was found by members of the Cleveland Search and Rescue Team on a bridleway between the villages of Yearby and Wilton, Teesside, early yesterday.

Cleveland Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident. Sergeant Jeff Mowbray said: "Police inquiries are continuing."

Bosses of livery stables at Park House Farm, Dunsdale, near Guisborough, east Cleveland, alerted the emergency services when they discovered the woman's car behind the stables, late on Saturday.

It is understood that an hour after the managers telephoned Cleveland Police, the horse that the woman had taken out for an afternoon ride returned to the stables, without its rider.

Twenty-seven members of the rescue team split into groups to search the rides at Yearby Bank and the cliff-top Errington Woods, which were popular with the woman, from New Marske, east Cleveland.

Police officers searched the surrounding countryside on foot, with the air support helicopter joining in the operation.

Search team spokesman Pete Mounsey said: "This was the tragic and sad end we were fearing to what was a reasonably straightforward search for us to do.

"The search was made easier for us by the information that was given to us by her riding friends and colleagues about her favourite riding routes."

It is believed that Park House Farm, which has a large stable block, is owned by farmer Tom Petch, who could not be contacted for comment last night.

The British Horse Society has warned that horse riding is a risky sport and that horses are unpredictable. They can easily take fright.

In 1989, 44-year-old Anya McCracken, a senior official with the North York Moors National Park, died after falling from her horse when it was startled by a pheasant.

Miss McCracken, who was head of advisory services at the national park, fell while riding with a friend near Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire.