Woman dies after accident involving horse

A Dayton woman died after being dragged by a horse at her father's home in the Gardnerville Ranchos.

Andrea Benson, 29, was attempting to get a bridle on a horse she had won last year in a lottery, authorities said.

The horse, an Arabian, was professionally trained in Dayton the month prior, but Benson was having trouble putting its bridle on because the horse kept throwing its head back, according to reports of the Thursday incident.

According to Sgt. Lance Modispacher of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Benson apparently tied a rope around her waist and then around the horse's neck in an attempt to stop the horse from throwing its head.

"But horses are 500 times stronger than people and when it spooked, it threw her off her feet and its defense was to run. Now it's running away and Andrea is still attached to it with the rope and the horse is running from whatever is chasing him," Modispacher said.

Her father, Robert Hagedorn, was cutting brush on his property when he heard her scream.

Modispacher said the horse dragged Benson for about 10 minutes before anyone could calm down the animal enough to cut Benson free.

He said when paramedics arrived, Benson was showing little response, and they took her directly to CareFlight and from there to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, where she died of massive internal injuries and multiple head trauma.