Three horses in a float that rolled on the Saddle Rd on Wednesday have shown little effect from the trauma they faced.
Marton trainer Dean Cunningham said the horses were "quite bright", despite suffering bruising and losing some skin.
Cunningham, a farmer and who trains seven racehorses as a hobby, was heading to the Hawke's Bay Racecourse in Hastings when he was forced to take evasive action after an oncoming truck appeared to take the bend too fast onto the northern end of the Ashhurst bridge.
Cunningham veered into the side barrier of the bridge but the float tipped onto its side and crashed to a halt against the bank.
The accident occurred around 6.16am and emergency services were at the scene by 6.30am.