Date Posted: 2/1/2010 3:34:55 PM Last Updated: 2/2/2010 8:20:17 AM

An exercise rider and backstretch worker died Feb. 1 after a horse fell on top of him while exercising at Tampa Bay Downs in Florida.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Robert Shields, 60, died after one of the horses got spooked and fell over, fatally injuring him.

Spokeswoman Vida Morgan says Shields was taken to Mease Countryside Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

According to WFTS TV, the horse, a 3-year-old named Gael Lea, was unhurt. The accident, on a dark day at the track in which there is no live racing, happened around 8 a.m. (ET).