A New Hampshire man who drove a team of horses pulling a homemade wagon down Route 20 in late October, was struck by a tractor-trailer on a Mississippi highway Tuesday.
Bob Skelding, 49, was traveling through Shelbyville, Miss., when an 18-wheeler hit his horse-drawn wagon from behind and killed two of the four Percheron horses that were pulling it, according to media reports.
Skelding is listed in critical condition at a Mississippi hospital, according to media reports. The two remaining horses are being cared for by a veterinarian.
Skelding was driving his team of horses on a stretch of U.S. 45 that has little or no shoulder, according to media reports. Two 18-wheelers traveling side-by-side crested a hill, and one of the trucks hit the wagon, smashing it, and the tractor-trailer landed on its side.
On July 28, Skelding hitched up his four Percheron draft horses to his 16-foot-long wagon-house and embarked on his dream: to travel across the country, he said during his interview with the Star Beacon.
The wagon-house weighed nearly four tons and resembled a recreational vehicle, complete with a full-sized bed, bathroom, shower, kitchen, and hot and cold water.
Skelding camped out in the wagon in the parking lot of the Shelby County Co-op during his trip through Shelbyville, according to media reports.
Before his accident, Skelding maintained an online blog. On the day before the accident, he posted that he had visited Macon, Miss., and had a “very nice and rewarding day” after meeting some “really terrific people.”
It is legal to drive a horse-drawn vehicle on a Mississippi highway, Kemper County Sheriff James R. Moore said.
Skelding said the goal of his cross-country trip was to see new places and meet nice people.
With high gasoline prices, horses seemed to be the way to go, he said during his Star Beacon interview.
While in Ashtabula Township, he stopped at the Tractor Supply store. The manager donated some feed for the horses.
Percherons are one of the prominent large draft-horse breeds in the United States. Other large draft breeds are Belgians, Clydesdales, Suffolk Punches and Shires.
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