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Shelley Osterloh reportingLt. Teri Sommers,Salt Lake City Police: "When you are around horses these things happen"
The same power that makes horses such athletic animals, can also make them a deadly force.
That’s what critically injured a little girl Wednesday night while she was feeding some horses.
The Petersen family regularly goes out to feed and care for their horses they have stabled in Salt Lake County.
But apparently as they were feeding one, the other got excited and jumped the fence. The animal reportedly knocked down a 7-year-old girl, and stepped on her repeatedly.
A neighbor heard her father's screams for help.
Mike Petersen, Neighbor: "I seen the truck drive by with the dad, mom and little girl in it. They was only there for maybe two minutes and then that's when he started screaming, someone call 911. So I had a phone and called "
Paramedics who arrived on the scene found Beth Peterson was having trouble breathing. They called a helicopter to rush her to Primary Children's Hospital.
Beth Peterson is in serious but stable condition with a collapsed lung, broken ribs, and abdominal injuries.
