Frightened Horse Injures 11 During Party at School

A horse apparently spooked by loud music and gusts of wind barreled into a crowd of spectators Friday afternoon, injuring a parent, a teenager and nine children at a school Halloween party, authorities said.

Two students at Castlebay Lane Elementary School--one of them a boy kicked in the face--were hospitalized, along with a student’s teenage sister and a student’s mother, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said.

“The horse trampled right over people,” said parent Lori Choi, who witnessed the chaotic scene. “It looked pretty bad.”

Castlebay Principal Robert Caplan said he did not give permission for the horse to be on campus. “There must be approval to have any type of animal on campus, and I didn’t give approval for this,” he said.

But Randi Lieber, a fifth-grade teacher who was riding the horse, said Caplan had approved the activity a week ago.

“He came into our class. I told him what we were doing and asked if it would be OK if I sat on a horse while it was led in. He said it was fine,” she said.

Lieber rode the horse onto the playground around 2 p.m. in the grand finale of Castlebay’s Halloween party, witnesses said. Each class at the kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school was supposed to parade around the playground in costume and then sit down on the asphalt to watch the other classes.

The fifth-graders were at the end of the line, dressed in Wild West gear and followed by the white horse, which Lieber said belonged to one of her students.

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As soon as the horse stepped into the crowd of squirming kids and their parents, it got spooked, parents and students said. Halloween music was blasting, children were yelling and heavy gusts of wind cut through the playground.

“He got scared when he heard the music and started jumping up and down,” said 10-year-old Emmanuel Pakroo.

Lieber jumped off as the horse bolted and careened into a group of parents and kids. Another teacher tried to grab the reins but was shaken off, parents said.

The horse trampled a 48-year-old mother, Amanda Sanchez of Porter Ranch, who was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills. She was listed in fair condition Friday evening with a concussion and facial cuts, said hospital nursing supervisor Karen Klein.

Also hospitalized were the 18-year-old sister of a student, a 10-year-old boy whose cheek was cut by the horse’s hoof, and a 9-year-old girl. All were listed in good condition Friday evening. Seven other students were treated at the school for scrapes and bruises.

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Fox is a Times correspondent; Gettleman is a Times staff writer. Times staff writer Irene Garcia also contributed to this story.