A TEENAGE girl was left with serious back injuries after her pony bolted and threw her off.

Novice horse rider Jade Hammond, 13, from Portswood, Southampton, was flung into scrub land near Hoe Lane, North Baddesley, after the family pony Bill was spooked.

Ambulance crews rushed to the spot and had to trek across a field to rescue the Regents Park Girls' School pupil by stretcher.

Mum Cheryl, who was with Jade when the accident happened, said: "It's the first day of half-term so we just brought our pony out here to have a go at riding him. Normally he's quite placid but he and Jade had an argument about eating grass and he bucked.

"I'm not sure how serious it is at the moment. Jade's a very active girl, she's in the Army cadets and everything, but she could be out of action for a while."

Ambulance crews and a doctor at the scene at first feared Jade would have to be airlifted to safety.

But paramedic Andre Pilling from Eastleigh said they eventually decided she could be carried out.