A Southampton grandmother was killed after she was thrown from the horse she was riding when it reared up in pain from an injury she never knew it had, an inquest was told.

Mother-of-three Gillian Ashley suffered a fatal fractured spine when her 13-year-old Arab chestnut mare Misty threw her to the ground.

It was revealed at the inquest that the horse had suffered a hidden injury that was not known to Mrs Ashley.

Injury The inquest was told that Misty had an old fractured vertebrae in her withers – the ridge between the animal’s shoulder blades – caused by a much earlier fall.

Mrs Ashley, who was born and lived in Southampton for 50 years but had moved to Devon where she was a shopkeeper, had not known about the injury when she bought Misty who was described as a calm and placid horse.

The inquest heard that Misty suddenly and without warning reared up in pain as Mrs Ashley, 60, rode her along a track near her home in Beer in September 2010.

After Mrs Ashley’s death, Misty did the same thing to her new owner leaving her with a broken arm after it “bucked like a bronco”.

It was after that incident that Misty was given a thorough veterinary examination which finally revealed the fracture and the poor condition of the horse’s teeth which would have made controlling her with a bit more difficult.

Mrs Ashley’s son Paul asked for a recommendation that equine medical records are handed over by people selling horses.

The coroner said there was no overseeing body she could write to about this case but urged: “It is clear from the evidence that any buyer would be well advised to get as much information as possible before they buy animals.”

Mrs Ashley’s partner of ten years, Bob Chudley, said Mrs Ashley enjoyed riding on her own and said Misty was a “perfect horse”

who did not get spooked by passing tractors or buses.

The grandmother of six spent much of her life in Southampton where two of her three sons John, 34, and Christopher, 29, still live.

A couple on holiday found her lifeless body lying on the track in Beer with Misty 200 yards away. The couple tried to revive her but Mrs Ashley, a fit and healthy grandmother who was wearing a riding hat and protective body armour, died at the scene.

In recording a verdict of accidental death, the Greater Devon coroner Dr Elizabeth Earland said: “It is certain to me that horse riding, even in experienced hands, is a dangerous occupation.

People ought to be wary when they get on a horse.