A Kalispell-area woman injured in a Saturday horse-riding accident died Sunday afternoon at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, authorities said.

Jo Sanderson, 61, died from massive head injuries she received when her horse reared and fell on top of her, according to Flathead County coroner's reports.

She was brain dead when she reached the hospital and was taken off life support after the arrival of her father, Allen Sanderson, according to family.

Sanderson had just completed a two-hour ride in Herron Park near Foy's Lake with a

group of about 20 other people, according to family and friends. She was in the parking lot cooling her horse down when it apparently had an aneurysm and threw her.

"The horse was dead before it hit the ground," said Peggy King, a close friend of Sanderson. "It was a freaky, freaky thing. She would have been off the horse in five minutes."

The horse had just been given a clean bill of health, said Vicki Morris, who had known Sanderson for 30 years. Sanderson was wearing a riding helmet and protective vest, she said.

Sanderson was a speech teacher who worked with an autistic child at Kila School.

"She was really a teacher to everyone she met," Morris said. "And she was a great friend."

Sanderson had moved to the Kalispell area from Atlanta four years ago to own and ride horses, Morris said.

"Jo was an avid animal lover and loved being out in nature," she said. "She got to live her dream. Riding was her passion."

Friends say that just before she was thrown, Sanderson had said the ride had been one of the most beautiful of her life.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at [email protected]