A 40-year-old woman in South Africa is in a critical condition after a horse she rode gave her a hard kick in the head.

News24 reports that the incident happened at an equestrian centre in Midrand on Thursday afternoon.

According to ER24 spokesperson Ross Campbell, paramedics were on the scene at 16:55 and found the woman on the ground, surrounded by her family.

“Advanced life support interventions were used to stabilise the critically injured patient before she was flown by another service’s medical helicopter to a private hospital for further care,” Campbell said.

It is believed that she was thrown from the horse before it kicked her.