Stephen Gruber-Miller

sgrubermil@press-citizen.com

A horse has died after a collision with a car on Highway 1 north of Kalona on Thursday morning.

Johnson County Sheriff's Capt. Gary Kramer said deputies got a report of a horse hitting a car at the intersection of Highway 1 and 520th Street in Kalona at 8:36 a.m.

The horse had been hooked up to a buggy that its owner had driven to work, Kramer said. The owner was in the process of unhooking the horse when it got spooked and took off running, throwing the buggy loose and heading towards the highway.

"It was raining. The visibility was low, it was reduced, and the horse ran across Highway 1 hitting the vehicle," Kramer said.

While the car received extensive damage, the driver was unhurt, Kramer said. The horse's death was presumably caused by the crash, he said.

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Johnson County Ambulance and Kalona Fire Department responded to the incident.

Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @sgrubermiller.