Eleven people were treated for minor injuries after a horse-drawn wagon wrecked Sunday at Lazy 5 Ranch northeast of Mooresville.
Lazy 5 owner Henry Hampton said a wagon carrying about 25 people had just begun its slow tour of the hands-on wildlife compound when something happened to make the three horses bolt.
The running horses pulled the wagon about 100 feet before it hit a tree and the horses broke free, Hampton said.
Emergency crews from the Rowan Rescue Squad responded and transported injured passengers to Lake Norman Regional Medical Center. In all, 11 were treated and released, a hospital spokesperson said.
Law enforcement officials were not summoned to the scene.
"We're just puzzled about the whole thing," Hampton said. "The horses have been with us a long time and they're all broke (trained), and the driver was very experienced. Something just happened that made them suddenly want to run."
Hampton said Lazy 5 Ranch horse-drawn wagons carry about 125,000 passengers a year and that incidents are rare. The facility opened in 1993.
"In the past, things that have happened were like a kid not paying attention and falling off the back of the wagon, or a kid pushing another off the wagon," he said.
"We're real proud that we haul so many people every year and just about never have an incident. But this is the real world. You put that many people with horses and equipment and other animals, and unfortunately things can happen."
A notice prominently displayed at the ranch informs passengers of the potential dangers, Hampton said.
Hampton said the three horses were tangled in their harnesses because of the incident but were not injured.
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