Shire horse hits car during Gloucestershire charity challenge

• By Rachel Candlin & Tess de la Mare
• Broadcast Journalist

23 June 2023

Image source, RAF Association

A farmer taking his team of Shire horses on a road trip for charity has called off the challenge after one of his animals hit a car.

Jamie Alcock had hoped to raise money for three charities.

The tour through Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Hertfordshire was due to last three weeks.

But the challenge came to an abrupt end when one of the horses was injured in the collision, during which her leg went through the car’s windscreen.

Gloucestershire Police were called to the scene of the crash, at about 10:15 BST on Friday on the A40 in Highnam.

Mr Alcock, who runs Coldcroft Shires Farm, Gloucester, later confirmed that it was only Millie that had been injured.

He had hit the road with his horses William and Millie, along with Boo Boo, the farm’s border collie, in an American-style trail wagon.

Image source, RAF Association

But he called it off after the horses were seriously spooked and crossed the main road in a panic.

Millie is now in an equine hospital after the accident and it is hoped she will make a full recovery.

The car Millie struck was stationary at the time, Mr Alcock said.

Speaking to BBC West, he said: “You quickly realise how powerful a horse is when you lose control of it.”

He emphasised the car involved, driven by a mother with her young child inside, was “completely innocent”.

‘Stuck on bonnet’

Millie got her leg stuck through the car’s windscreen and was trapped for at least 15 minutes, while Mr Alcock worked to cut her free of her harness.

“She tried to move a couple of times, I was trying to keep her calm and she was responding to that, but I had no idea how I was going to move a tonne of horse when its stuck on a car bonnet,” he said.

Eventually Millie was able to scramble free of the car and police rushed a vet to the scene.

This year’s challenge would have been the third long distance journey Mr Alcock has made with the animals.

In previous years, he has driven from Paignton in Devon to Inverness, and from Cardiff to Hampton Court Palace.

Image source, RAF Association

Three members of the Gloucestershire force’s mounted unit had been due to escort Mr Alcock and his team through Gloucester, to his first stop at Gloucester Cathedral.

When the team heard about the accident they sent their own horse lorry to take Millie to the veterinary hospital.

Mr Alcock warned that Millie had lost a lot of blood, and the next 24 hours could be critical.

In a Facebook post, he said: “Fortunately, and most importantly, Millie was the only casualty.

“I will know more about her condition by Monday.”

The drive would have taken in the three counties and their cathedrals, with money raised split between Police Care UK, The Samaritans and the RAF Association.

Mr Alcock’s late brother, PC John Alcock, was supported by Police Care UK after being involved in a serious collision in Scotland in 2003, during his role as a royal protection officer.

He spent 14 years in a coma before his death in 2017 at the age of 54.

There is a strong family connection with the RAF Association, as Mr Alcock, his father and grandfather all served in the air force.

Following the collision, police said: “Police were called to a report of a collision involving a horse and a single vehicle on the A40 in Highnam at around 10.20am today.

“Nobody was believed to have been seriously injured in the collision.

“The horse has been taken to a vet where it is being treated and it is believed will make full recovery.”

Anyone with dashcam footage of the collision is asked to contact Gloucestershire Police.