Further Testing Ordered on Body of Child Killed in Cerritos Horse Accident

Additional tests have been ordered on the body of a 7-year-old El Monte boy who died after being kicked by a horse at a Cerritos stable last Sunday.

"The results (of the autopsy) are being deferred," said investigator Larry Deitz of the Los Angeles Department of Coroner. "The doctor has ordered for further testing."

Edwin Ruiz suffered a fatal blow after being kicked in the side by a horse at a small stable in the 10000 block of Artesia Boulevard about 2:15 p.m. Sunday. He died at a hospital a couple of hours later and his death was being investigated as an accident, coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter said.

The incident occurred on a property owned by Southern California Edison near the San Gabriel River. The space, which houses mostly stalliions, is occupied by a Charro group -- Mexican horsemen who take part in horse shows and rodeos.

In a television interview with KCAL9, Bob Buell who owns , a well-known stable located across the street from where the accident occurred, said factors -- like the wind and warm weather -- may have affected the horse's temperment. 

"It was a very windy day, that in it alone provides a lot of activity," Buell, who has been around horses for more than 60 years, told the station. "It injures a horse's sense in what they're normally involved with. They have to be able to do it by smell and feel, and when the winds come up those senses are gone."