Martin Wickens charged in the death of an Olympian horse

Forty-six year old Martin Wickens was charged with careless driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident, for a March 31, incident that caused Canadian officials to humanely destroy an Olympian horse.

Canadian officials said that the Blue Mountain man struck the horse and its rider, Jessica Ruppel, an Olympic-level equestrian who is long-listed for Canada’s 2009 Three-Day Event team, with his white pickup truck around 5:50 p.m on March 31, 2009.

Bella, the 3-year-old Hanoverian filly that goes by the stage name Royal Symphony, was put down at the scene of the accident after it was determined she could not survive catastrophic pelvic and internal injuries.

Ruppel, 25, suffered severe bruising in the accident.