Rutland sees rise in horse and vehicle road incidents
Campaigners have organised over 200 rides to raise awareness next month
There's been an increase in the number of reported incidents involving horse and vehicles on roads in Rutland, the British Horse Society (BHS) says.
In fact, overall incidents in the East Midlands were up by 220% on 2020, with 60 incidents and one horse fatality in Leicestershire alone last year.
Of the 2,943 total incidents reported across the UK, The BHS say 85% of them occurred due to vehicles passing by too closely.
As part of their 'Look Out For Laura' campaign, the organisation's urging motorists to be more aware of horses, with over 500 horses reported to be killed on the roads since 2010.
The campaign message 'Dead Slow' asks drivers to:
'Pass Wide and Slow'
Another campaign group, 'Pass Wide and Slow', have planned over 200 organised rides across the UK on September 18th, in a bid to raise awareness around how to safely pass horses on roads.
A statement from the group read:
"Our aim is to gain attention and educate non-equestrians in a pleasant way without resorting to demonstrations on how to pass horses safely on the roads so we can all get home safely.
"This is even more important this year with the changes in the Highway Code that came into effect on 29th January.
"On social media we have again asked volunteers to come forward to organise ride/drives in their area and to date we have over 200 on the interactive map covering England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland."
Why are numbers rising?
Alexander Tordoff, a horse breeder from Hyde Lodge Horses in Rutland, welcomes raising awareness around the issue.
He says more inexperienced riders are out on horseback on the roads post-pandemic, when more are wanting to get outside - which could explain why numbers are rising:
'A lot of people are taking up horse-riding it's a very popular thing to do, especially coming out of COVID, people are wanting to get back outdoors and obviously riding is a good way to do that.'
'Horses are very unpredictable and very quickly can move themselves into a position that can be very dangerous for both the horse rider and the driver of the car, and I think people that are not familiar with horses would not be so aware of this, until an accident happens.'
'It is common practice for two horses to pair up next to each other and, sometimes with younger horses that are not so used to the real world, it's a way to protect them. That's common practice and I think the education side for drivers to understand that it is for the horse's protection, not to upset anyone or slow down their day.'