Grandfather of young girl hurt at Wigan horse show says she is fine and speaks about what happened

The grandparent of the five-year-old youngster, who asked not to be named, said mystery still surrounded exactly what went on at Abram Hall Riding Club on Sunday.

Other news: Couple wed at Wigan Infirmary only hours before groom loses his fight for lifeIt was suggested initially that the girl had been kicked by a pony but her grandfather said he thought that unlikely.

He said it was still not exactly clear what had happened but his granddaughter had ended up on the ground.

She was assessed by paramedics and the air ambulance was called, eventually being taken to Wigan Infirmary by road.

She was discharged later the same day and is now recovering with only superficial cuts and scratches to show for her ordeal.

Her grandfather said: "I was holding the lead rope and my granddaughter had the end of it because she wanted to walk the pony with me.

"I realised we were going to the wrong ring and turned the pony. She's been really startled and just shot off forward. I turned round and saw my little granddaughter flat out in the gravel on her face.

"There are two scenarios in my mind. Either she has been tugged down by the animal moving forward or as I've been turning she's wandered round the back, been falling over and maybe got caught with a hoof.

"Her injuries weren't consistent with being kicked by a pony. She's absolutely fine. She went to Wigan Infirmary for a few hours for observations. They wanted to see her eat and drink something and she did that. They said she has no injuries other than the ones you can see.

"She's got a scratch over her nose and cuts to her lip and the underside of her lip. Her face was quite swollen at the beginning but that's gone down too."

The girl's grandparents posted on social media thanking all the emergency services for their response and treatment of the youngster.