What we know about Hannah Serfass and the horse accident that killed the junior equestrian

Melissa Pérez-Carrillo, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

May 3, 2023 at 12:45 PM·2 min read

Hannah Serfass, a promising, 15-year-old junior show rider from Webster, Florida, died Sunday, following a fall while competing in a national steeplechase event at Fox Lea Farm, an equestrian center located on Auburn Road near Venice.

Junior rider Hannah Serfass, 15, died suddenly on Sunday while competing in an event at Fox Lea Farm in Venice when her horse tripped and fell.

Serfass was riding her 12-year-old horse Quaxx in a hunter/jumper competition when the horse tripped and fell on jump No. 5.

More on the accident: 15-year-old equestrian dies in accident at Fox Lea Farm near Venice

In case you missed it: Fox Lea Farm to host its first Show Jumping Under the Stars Charity Challenge Ride

How did the accident happen?

The horse had just landed successfully and took a few steps to the next hurdle when it planted its left front hoof, according to a report from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. This caused the horse to lean down significantly toward its left front hoof.

“This action caused the rider to then topple forward and off the horse in the same direction and onto the ground,” the report said. “The horse then continued to fall in the same direction falling over and onto the rider’s head on the ground.”

First aid was rendered by Fox Lea Farm personnel and others until the Sarasota County Fire Rescue responded. Serfass was taken to the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Venice campus, where she was later pronounced dead.

How often do horse accidents happen?

A 2021 study from Ohio State University did a survey of several states and found that 81% of horse riders had an injury during some point of their riding career and that 21% experienced a serious injury.

The study found that 10% to 30% of all horse-related injuries are head injuries with 60% to 70% of horse-related fatalities caused by head injuries. Of all the sports in the U.S., equestrian sports are the most common cause of sports-related traumatic brain injury in adults.

Wildwood’s Hannah Serfass competes in the 800 meter dash during the 1A Region 2 track and field championships at Mount Dora Christian Academy in Mount Dora on Wednesday, May 4, 2022.

Who was the rider?

Serfass always had a passion for horses and has been around them her entire life with her older sister riding recreationally, she said in a March 2023 profile by Ben Baugh in the World Equestrian Center Magazine. She competed in gymnastics until the fourth grade when her mother switched her to riding and showing horses.

The disciplined rider would wake up on her own every day at 6:30 a.m. to take care of animals on her family farm in Webster and practice riding before starting her homeschooling work. She participated in extracurriculars in the Sumter County School District and was a member of the Wildwood Middle High School Track Team.

She rode the entire winter 2022 circuit at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala. Her passion and coachability set her apart from other riders, and she wanted to go far with riding.

“I just got into it and never wanted to stop,” Serfass said in the profile. “And now, I just want to learn everything I can about it. I want to keep going with it.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Hannah Serfass accident: What we know about teen horse rider's death

AFP
UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
Britain's economy was stagnant in the third quarter, according to revised official data released Monday, dealing a fresh blow to the Labour government.The ONS also revised down its second quarter growth reading to 0.4 percent from 0.5 percent.
AFP
Sweden says China denied request for prosecutors to probe ship linked to cut undersea cables
Sweden's foreign minister said Monday that China had denied a request for prosecutors to conduct an investigation on a Chinese ship linked to two severed Baltic Sea cables despite Beijing pledging "cooperation" with regional authorities.- Observers - However, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard also noted Monday that Swedish prosecutors had not been allowed to conduct an investigation.
NBC News
Biden commutes dozens of death row sentences to life without parole
The sentences will be reclassified to life without the possibility of parole, the White House said. The move applies to 37 of the 40 federal inmates on death row.
NBC News
House repairs, a car, grandkids: Where Evanston’s reparations payments are going
The first city in the U.S. to approve reparations has given 200 people in cash or assistance. We asked three residents how that money has affected their lives.
Associated Press
What a merger between Nissan and Honda means for the automakers and the industry
Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan will attempt to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. Honda will initially lead the new management, retaining the principles and brands of each company.
USA TODAY
President Biden commutes sentences of 37 federal death row inmates: See full list of names
President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of 37 individuals on death row, the White House announced. See the full list of names.
Reuters
Switzerland adopts more EU sanctions on Russia and Belarus
Switzerland adopted the latest EU sanctions package on Russia and Belarus, the government said on Monday. The move came one week after the European Union targeted Moscow's vessels and Chinese entities found to have traded with the Russian military. The Swiss government listed 54 persons and 30 companies and organisations, freezing their assets as of Dec. 24, and banned 52 ships from providing services.
Reuters
Germany looking into possible security lapses after Christmas market attack
Germany searched for answers on Monday on possible security lapses after a man drove his car into a Christmas market, killing at least five people and casting a renewed spotlight on security and immigration ahead of a snap election. As a nation mourned, with citizens leaving flowers and lighting candles in Magdeburg where the incident took place on Friday, questions swirled about whether more could have been done and whether the authorities could have acted on warnings. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for tougher internal security laws to be adopted, including a new act to strengthen police forces as well as the introduction of biometric surveillance.
USA TODAY
Luigi Mangione faces arraignment today, charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO
Mangione's hearing on state charges comes days after his dramatic return to New York to face federal counts in the slaying of Brian Thompson.
CBS News
Luigi Mangione due in court on state murder, terrorism charges
Luigi Mangione is due in a New York courtroom to face state charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
CNN
Are abortion bans across America causing deaths? The states that passed them are doing little to find out.
In states with abortion bans, ProPublica has found, pregnant women have bled to death, succumbed to fatal infections and wound up in morgues with what medical examiners recorded were “products of conception” still in their bodies.
AFP
Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
Global stock markets mostly edged higher on Monday as traders welcomed below-forecast US inflation data that raised hopes about the health of the world's biggest economy.Official data out of Spain on Monday showed that the Spanish economy grew 0.8 percent in the third quarter as domestic consumption and exports increased, comfortably outstripping the European Union average.
CNN
Boy in hospital after drones fall from sky at Orlando holiday show
What was intended to be a dazzling festive spectacle ended in injury to a 7-year-old boy after several drones unexpectedly fell from the sky during a show in Florida on Saturday night, according to CNN affiliate reports.
Reuters
Young mammoth remains found nearly intact in Siberian permafrost
Researchers in Siberia are conducting tests on a juvenile mammoth whose remarkably well-preserved remains were discovered in thawing permafrost after more than 50,000 years. The carcass, weighing more than 110 kg (240 pounds), was brought to the surface on an improvised stretcher, said Maxim Cherpasov, head of the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Laboratory in the city of Yakutsk. It is the latest of a series of spectacular discoveries in the Russian permafrost.
CBS News
Over 1,000 North Korean casualties in Russia-Ukraine war, South Korea says
North Korea has sent thousands of troops to reinforce the Russian military in its war against Ukraine.
Reuters
How investments may fare during Trump 2.0 and Fed easing
U.S. investors are preparing for a swathe of changes in 2025, from tariffs and deregulation to tax policy, that will ripple through markets as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, putting the focus on whether the U.S. economy can continue to outperform. The changing of the guard in Washington has big implications for how stocks, bonds and currencies fare in the new year and may require investors to rejig portfolios. Forecasts call for another buoyant year for stocks, the dollar to maintain its recent strength over the coming months and Treasury yields to march higher.
Politico
Trump’s big Mike Johnson decision
A messy Capitol Hill endgame has the president-elect pondering a change in House leadership.
NBC News
Honda and Nissan officially begin merger talks to create world’s third-largest automaker
Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda on Monday announced they had entered into official talks to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales.
Reuters
France holds day of mourning for Mayotte, island devastated by cyclone
France is holding a national day of mourning for Mayotte, its Indian Ocean territory devastated by a deadly cyclone on Dec. 14, on Monday, beginning with a minute of silence at 11:00 a.m. (1000 GMT). To commemorate Mayotte's losses, French flags were lowered to half-mast. Separately, flags were flown at half-mast in Brussels and Strasbourg because of Mayotte, as well as following attacks last week on a German Christmas market and in a Croatian school.
AFP
Jordan foreign minister holds talks with Syria's new leader
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi expressed his country's support for Syria's reconstruction in a meeting with its new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday, in the latest visit to Damascus by a high-profile delegation since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.It was the first trip to Syria by a senior Jordanian official since Assad's fall, with images distributed by the Jordanian foreign ministry showing Safadi and Sharaa shaking hands.

How did the accident happen?

How often do horse accidents happen?

Who was the rider?

Latest Stories