KEY POINTS:
A 16-year-old girl is in a serious condition in Dunedin Hospital after falling from a horse near Invercargill.
The girl was airlifted to hospital following the accident near the Riverton Racecourse on the Riverton-Wallacetown highway, northwest of Invercargill, about 11.20am.
Constable Aaron Hogue, of Riverton police, said the girl from Otatara had been trying out a horse she was looking at buying.
"She's come off, the horse has gone down and rolled," he told the Southland Times.
The horse fell across her legs, then slipped as it was getting back up, rolling over her body, Mr Hogue said.
A St John ambulance spokeswoman said the girl had serious head injuries.
A Dunedin Hospital spokeswoman told NZPA this morning the girl was in a serious condition in intensive care.
The horse's owner, Brenda Gorton, told the newspaper the horse had simply slipped, but she was reeling from the accident.
"I'm still feeling really, really bad it happened on my horse."
- NZPA
