‘He went with his horse’: A man and his beloved horse die together in south Bakersfield crash
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A man and his horse — a bond not easily broken, not even by death, according to one Kern County family.
Delma “Raquel” Salazar said she found that out when she received a call she will never forget from the Bakersfield Police Department.
“I was hoping maybe they had the wrong person, maybe someone had his phone, but no,” said Salazar.
Salazar said since that call, her family is suffering after learning that her boyfriend, Jose Hernandez, died in a collision while riding his horse near South Sterling Road and Alto Place.
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“It doesn’t feel real, it hurts a lot,” said Hernandez’s stepdaughter Stephanie Salazar.
“He was just such a good person, with a big heart, he never talked bad about anybody, he always tried his best to help anybody that he could,” said Salazar.
Hernandez was known for his love of horses and riding them along the area he died. His horse’s name was “Mi Rojo” or my red.
“He had that horse for a little over a year he trained it himself, he loved that horse, it was his pride and joy,” said Salazar.
At the scene of the collision, BPD said officers shot the horse with a sidearm Glock 17. Sgt. Eric Celedon said officers relied on animal control to make that decision.
“Calling out a specialist to do that would have taken an extended period of time, which would have subjected that horse to even more suffering unnecessarily,” said Celedon. “That’s why the decision was made to do it at that time.”
The family is at peace with it and sees it as a reunion of Hernandez and his beloved horse.
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“He died doing what he loved and enjoyed, and I feel like he found peace during that,” said Stephanie Salazar.
“I’m sure he’s going to be happy because he went with his horse, that was his life being on his horse,” said Salazar. “I feel that he’s happy, I like to think he’s riding his horse happy doing what he loved to do.”
Celedon says the investigation is ongoing, but stresses the importance of taking precautions when riding in certain areas.
“If you are going to be riding a horse during nighttime hours in that area, you are required to wear reflective equipment, if not, a light mounted on your head or on the horse itself,” said Celedon. “We need to do everything we can to mitigate that risk as much as possible.”
Hernandez’s family has started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral expenses.
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