Cleo neither likes fireworks nor understands them - and even less now, because fireworks almost cost Cleo her life.

The horse got spooked in the small hours of Saturday, a day-and-a-half after Guy Fawkes' night. The normally placid and sensible animal bolted and tried to hurdle a gate in the dark, before getting her hind legs trapped and mutilated by splintered wood.

Genevieve Denize and Cleo. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

'It was completely out of character and shows me the level of stress caused by the fireworks,” says Cleo's owner Genevieve Denize.

'And I was devastated. It's like a member of your family being hurt and you know they're in terrible pain.

'With a horse it may have to be put down. I had to contemplate all of these things.”

There's an element of irony, because the Tauranga lawyer had moved her horse from a paddock near town to Oropi.

'I thought fireworks wouldn't be a problem, and that Cleo would be well out of harm's way.”

She was, until the night exploded. The blaze of light, smoke and sound was a belated Guy Fawkes party close to what was meant to be Cleo's safe haven.

It seems no-one had been advised about the party, even though it was in a rural setting and amongst and around farm animals.

'That's the whole problem,” says Genevieve. 'Guy Fawkes just carries on and on and on. And for people who own animals, it's not knowing where and when it's going to happen. People are letting them off indiscriminately for days and weeks.”

The lawyer doesn't want to be the ‘anti-fun police', 'but I think it's a case of balance.”

'If fireworks were just one night of the year and I knew that with certainty, I could put my horse in a stable or a place I know she would be safe.

'I would even stay up all night to comfort my horse and keep her safe.”

She cites the Australian example where fireworks can't be bought for personal use. 'But there are awesome public displays and people love it.”

In the meantime Genevieve is facing a vet's bill of up to $700. 'I had to call a vet in from Te Puke because there was no-one closer and available.”

On the day of the accident, Genevieve woke to a lot of missed calls telling her the horse had been badly injured. Cleo was found distressed, unable to walk, and bleeding profusely.

She had suffered deep muscle trauma, deep cuts, and more serious wounds to her stifle and back fetlocks.

Cleo's prognosis is unclear. It'll be another month before it's known if the sport horse, trained for dressage and jumping, will ever be ridden again.

'If not, she may be able to carry a foal, so we could breed from her.”

Genevieve has a lot of ‘horsey friends'. 'And last week on Facebook many posted pictures of the most horrific injuries to horses, all caused by people randomly letting fireworks off the weekend after Guy Fawkes Night.”

She says horrible things happen at Guy Fawkes. 'But then it just fades out of people's consciousness.” She wants to re-awaken people to the problem.