A mother of three was killed and another horseback rider seriously hurt when one of their horses got spooked and bolted into the middle of a California highway, officials said.
Monique Morton, 48, was riding with a group of friends and family along the shoulder of Highway 371 in Anza around 9 p.m. Sunday when the pair of horses veered into the roadway, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
A 70-year-old driver struck the riders, killing Morton and both horses, and critically injuring another woman.
“The horse spooked and didn’t want to go, and they ended up in the middle of the road when the car approached,” Morton’s friend Diane Sieker told NBC 4.
“Monique tried to get her off the road and was hit by the car.”
Morton was just feet away from her husband when she was hit. The injured rider, a 34-year-old woman from Temecula, was airlifted to a local hospital with major injuries.
Anza is a tight-knit equestrian community of about 3,000 people, located 120 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Morton’s husband, who goes by “Squeak” Smith, stressed to MyValleyNews “it was not the driver’s fault. It was a tragic accident.”
The motorist, who remained at the scene and was not injured, was not arrested as investigators do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor, California Highway Patrol said.
A photo from the crash shows the driver’s mangled car, with the windshield completely smashed in.
The horses did not suffer and died on impact, according to Nick Nuciforo, who was at the crash site to assist with the animals.
Morton was a passionate horse rider, according to friends and family members.
“It’s rocked the community. Nobody knows how to feel about it,” Monica Squires, the deceased victim’s friend, told NBC. “It’s sad when you see someone that you’ve known and full of life, now they are gone.”
“I am so, so, devastated & completely heartbroken!! Rest in peace my dearest friend, Monique Morton,” her friend Bek Reider wrote in a Facebook tribute. “Thank you for all the wonderful times & memories we have shared together over the past 30 years…. 
LOVE you forever!!!! Ride free my friend!!!”