CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A Harvard University senior who was an avid equestrian died of injuries she suffered in a riding accident in Ipswich, Mass., her father says.
Douglas Shaker said his daughter, Ariel, died this week of injuries she endured doing what she had done for 13 years since she was 8 years old, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
"Ariel was hoping she could be involved with horses for the rest of her life,'' Douglas Shaker said of his daughter, who died Tuesday. "She was athletic, competitive, intelligent, articulate, sociable. She was exceptional in a lot of ways.''
Ariel Shaker's coach, Crocker Snow, said the Harvard senior had been exercising horses for Harvard's polo team with two other students on Tuesday when her horse bucked and she fell to the ground. The horse then landed on top of Shaker, Snow told the Globe.
"I'm 100 percent positive there was no lollygagging or clowning around. ... It's just a complete freak mystery,'' Snow said. "There are some unpredictable horses, and this wasn't one. And there are some riders who are in over their head, and she wasn't one.''
