Pony swims out to sea and drowns in front of its schoolgirl owner after panicking because it got out its depth

A girl who took her pet pony for a paddle in the sea dismounted and watched in horror as it panicked and drowned in front of her.

The youngster had taken the ten-year-old horse Charlie for a ride to cool off in the water in Falmouth, Cornwall.

But when she got off the pony it swam out to sea going ever further out as it got more and more distressed. Despite her efforts to reach him he died.

Experts say horses cannot turn while treading water and will often just swim in a straight line.

Members of Penzance coastguard rescue team and a lifeguard on Marazion beach tried and failed to rescue the pony.

The pony’s owner, Bonnie Reynolds, of Penzance, said the ordeal had left her daughter traumatised.

She said: 'My daughter is absolutely devastated. She is exhausted, and hasn’t slept properly.

'As you can imagine, being on the shoreline watching your pony swimming away to its death is just horrific.'

'I think it was a terrible accident. There were no people water skiing, nothing that would make him panic.'

She wrote online that her daughter slid off the horse in shallow water - but it went ever further into the water and panicked.

'This was our pony only yesterday, in the sea, not out of his depth, not swimming and with a knowledgeable handler,' she wrote.

'She slid off his side and he got away from her, he swam out to his death! No matter what people say to reassure you, it’s a dangerous unpredictable thing to do and our precious friends are never worth taking a risk on.

'They can swim but are not natural swimmers. Please don’t do it.'

She added:  'Hopefully people will imagine his fear and panic, his tired legs paddling, his exhaustion.'

And she continued: 'I stand to get ridicule from people who love to do this, but they have to remember that this time yesterday I loved to do this!!!!'

A Penzance coastguard spokesman added: 'The horse and rider were in the water swimming to cool down. It seemed the horse got flustered by this and the rider got off.'

One eyewitness said: 'The people who swam after him were in fear of their own lives and even though one person reached him, he was already gone. Such a tragic accident.'