ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- A startled carriage horse ran into the Missouri River in St. Charles and drowned.

St. Charles fire chief Dan Casey said the St. Louis Carriage Company horse became startled late Wednesday night when a handler removed an eye blinder and was trying to put the horse into a trailer.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the horse bolted while pulling an empty carriage, which struck several vehicles in a parking lot before the horse slid down a ramp into the river.

Casey said the horse died within minutes, and fire crews recovered the horse's body a few hours later.

Earlier this month in Kansas City, a carriage horse was involved in an accident on the Country Club Plaza after it ran loose and crashed the carriage into a wall.