‘We plunged into a black abyss’: rider’s bridleway warning after she and horse disappear under water

A rider who ended up entirely under water when her horse spooked and jumped into an innocuous-looking lake said both are lucky to be alive.

Laura Keam wants to warn others of the risks after she and her five-year-old gelding Cruise went “into a black abyss” in Loe Pool, Portleven, Cornwall.

Laura told H&H she was born and brought up locally and knows the area well; the “pool”, which is Cornwall’s largest freshwater lake, is on a bridleway she has often used.

She explained that the lake is separated from the sea by a half-mile shingle “bar”, across which she and a friend rode on 16 October as part of a bridleway route.

“My friend’s horse spooked mine and he leapt straight into the water,” she said.