Driver charged after Mediaworks journalist Karen Rutherford hit while horse riding

Mediaworks journalist Karen Rutherford and her daughter Ella, 13, were riding two horses when she was struck head-on. Photo / Newshub

A Chinese national has been charged after Newshub journalist Karen Rutherford was hit in a crash which also killed her daughter's horse last month.

The 28-year-old man had been in New Zealand for a short time on a student visa and has been charged with Careless Driving Causing Injury, Newshub reported.

He is to appear in the North Shore District Court next week.

Rutherford and her daughter Ella, 13, were riding two horses in Dairy Flat, north of Auckland, on August 21 when she was struck head-on.

The horse she was riding, Curious George, died at the scene.

Rutherford was rushed to hospital and suffered a head injury, broken leg, broken ribs and toes. She has since been released.

In a video posted to her Facebook page in August, Rutherford said the matter was in police hands now.

"We did nothing wrong," she said.

"This was an avoidable tragedy.

She added: "How do you thank people who have just been so generous with their thoughts and wishes in the last eight days, I'm just so grateful, as is my beautiful family, for all the love and support you've shown us," she says in the video.

"My leg has been degloved. I won't be wearing a miniskirt for a very long time. 'Woohoo', I hear you say! It's not pretty, but I have a leg, and you've got to be thankful for that.

"I went flying through the air and I hit that windscreen with an almighty force. But when I opened my eyes in that ditch, I just thought 'wow, I'm alive. This is cool, I'm okay'. Then the panic set in."

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