Scott R. Dodds, 27, of Lackawannock Township, was driving home from work after 11 p.m. Friday evening, when he saw a brown horse walking on Orchard Road and swerved to miss it.

"The next thing he knew, a black horse ended up with his rear on Scotty's lap," said Sharon Wilson, a friend of Dodds'. Dodds told Wilson he hit the black horse when he swerved to hit the brown one. The horses, owned by Harvey U. Byler, Lackawannock Township. had apparently gotten loose from a pasture, state police said.

The car's front end was extensively damaged and Dodd "had horse manure on his chest," Ms. Wilson said.

She said the horse then pulled its rear end out of the car and ran into a nearby pasture. Dodds was treated at the hospital of Sharon Regional Health System for a bruised chest and nose and minor cuts, Ms. Wilson said."

She said she heard that the horse was put down by its owner.

A Grove City man had a similar mishap Thursday on South Center Street in Grove City while horse-back riding.

Richard Noel, 49, of Grove City, was treated at United Community Hospital, Pine Township, after the horse he was riding on was hit from behind by a car driven by Andrew Brubacker, 30, also of Grove City, at 8:30 p.m., Grove City police said.

Police said the horse was injured but did not know the severity of its injuries. Brubacker was cited for careless driving, state police said.

Noel was involved in another horse-back riding incident April 7, when he and a friend, Keith Travis, 39, of Grove City, left a bar in Springfield Township, got on their horses and headed north on Old Ash Road. The horse Travis was riding was hit by a pickup truck driven by John Hayden, 44, West Sunbury, state police said.

Travis, Noel and Hayden were all charged with drunken driving in that incident.