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Daly City police arrest woman suspected of pulling horse's tail during youth's riding lesson

A 29-year-old San Francisco woman was arrested over the weekend in connection with an injury to a child who was thrown from a horse last month in Daly City.

Cell phone video captured the moment police said 29-year-old Tomasa Panjojleon ran behind a horse and pulled its tail, causing the horse to spook and buck off a young child.

"It blew all of our minds that someone would one, do that to the animal, do that to the child that was riding," said Caroline Reed.

Caroline Reed is the barn manager at Ocean View Stables, the barn that was hosting the kids' ride.

"Even as like professional horse people, we never just walk straight up to our horse from behind. No matter how well-trained that horse is, that will startle anyone, that would startle myself if someone did that. So, we were kind of just blown away that someone would ever do that to an animal," said Reed.

Caroline said that day the young boy was riding Zeus, one of their most well-mannered horses.

"If you're a beginner, you usually get put on him first," said Reed.

The kids ride consisted of a lap around Thornton Beach Trail.

It's a trail that often has people from the general public walking on it, but Caroline said that before this walkers have always been polite to the riders.

"They usually step aside when we're coming by. We ask people to step off the trail when we're walking by and if you watch the video, they were standing to the side of that trail until we had passed, and then she came back around and pulled that tail. So we had no idea that that was going to happen. They were respectfully standing to the side in the beginning of that, which is what almost everyone does for us," said Reed.

Caroline said that once they saw the video they called the police.

"We met with them that night, filed that report. Again, on Wednesday, Feb. 26, we talked to them again just giving statements and kind of following up on the condition of the horse," said Reed.

Caroline said the boy was able to get back on the horse after the fall and finish the ride. She said he left with his parents that night after they declined medical attention.

But police said the child did sustain injuries as a result of the fall.

Officers arrested Panjojleon on March 1, charging her with felony child endangerment.

Caroline told KPIX they were all relieved to hear the news.

"Absolutely, we were just worried about that her being out, we didn't know if she was going to come back and do that again to somebody else," said Reed.

Caroline said employees continue to walk the trails before rides to spot any potential issues.

All Ocean View's classes and trail rides remain open.

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