PLAINVILLE - A Connecticut woman suffered serious head injuries after being knocked to the ground after an out of control horse caused havoc at Plainridge Racecourse Monday night.

Plainville Firefighter Paramedic Jaime Ohlson said the woman, thought to be on the team of workers for the horse, was standing inside the track's paddock area when the horse threw its driver off, became out of control and went barreling into a gate where the woman was standing.

Ohlson said it wasn't yet clear whether the woman - who was taken to the trauma unit in Providence's Rhode Island Hospital - was hit by the horse, the gate, the horse buggy, or a combination of the three.

"There was some frantic time," Ohlson said. "The horse crashed into a pole of the gate and she was struck by one. But she was alert and talking on the way to the hospital, so that's a good sign."

The woman was not identified.