A chain-reaction accident gave seven people and a couple of horses the ride of their lives Saturday.

According to Washington State Patrol Trooper Benjamin McBride, the five-car accident occurred shortly after noon Saturday on Highway 525 near Thompson Road.

The trooper reported that Anne Erickson-Hare, 41, of Langley, was southbound on Highway 525 in a 1988 Chevrolet Impala when she stopped to turn left onto Thompson Road.

Southbound behind Erickson-Hare was Mark Steven, 45, of Everett, driving a 1992 GMC Yukon. Behind Steven was Edward Tilbury, 55, of Anchorage, Alaska, driving a rented 2003 Lincoln Town Car. Farther back in the southbound lane was Kristy Krieg, 23, Oak Harbor, driving a 1993 Ford F10 pickup towing a horse trailer.

Between Tilbury and Krieg was a passenger van, which managed to avoid the string of rear-end collisions by passing them all on the right, according to McBride.

Krieg’s vehicle struck Tilbury from behind. That impact forced Tilbury into the northbound lane, where his vehicle was struck head-on by Robert Oldenburg, 49, of Clinton, who was going north.

The collision with Tilbury’s car forced Oldenburg’s 1982 Ford F100 pickup into the ditch on the northbound side of the highway. Tilbury’s vehicle spun around almost 180 degrees and came to rest in the southbound ditch of the highway.

The order in which Erickson-Hare, Steven and Tilbury hit each others’ vehicles was still under investigation this week, officers said.

Island County Deputy Laura Price and McBride both said Monday that the horses in the trailer did not suffer any major or visible injuries from the accident. They were taken away in another horse trailer that was brought to the scene.

All occupants of the vehicles reported they were wearing seatbelts at the time, according to McBride.

He said all of the drivers and occupants of the vehicles were transported to Whidbey General Hospital. Only Oldenburg and Gerald Utley, a passenger in Steven’s vehicle, were admitted for observation.

The Washington State Patrol reported that the accident remains under investigation.