Riding and Road Safety

Last August a lady called Lauren De Gruchy began a Facebook Campaign to encourage people to slow down when driving past horses on the road. Since then a petition has collected almost 85,000 signatures, asking for it to be made law that drivers must pass horses on the highway at no more than 15mph and must comply with any signals the rider gives. Now I’m a horsey girl and I absolutely applaud this but are we missing something here? Where I live the roads are pretty quiet and 99% of drivers coming past me slow down, not many to 15mph, but they do slow down and in return, I lift my hand and give them a wave to say thank you. And as I was taught as a child if you are riding a horse that is so naughty that it makes it dangerous to lift one hand off the reins, give the driver a nod, a smile or say “thank you” out loud. It’s an easy and courteous thing to do and it might make the driver who drove past you at 50mph slow down a bit more the next time they pass a horse and rider. It’s just good manners and exactly the same as thanking someone for holding a door open for you. Obviously many people are riding their horses on much busier roads and I appreciate that it is very hard to thank every car that slows down when it is a steady stream of traffic. The other thing we idiots on horseback can do is to make sure the drivers can see us. And I mean really see us. I always ride in a high visibility jacket and I feel like a muppet in it. It’s bright yellow with reflective strips across it and I look as though I have just walked off a building site. People possibly assume that I am on day release from some Mental Health institution or I have just finished my community service, but I have to say I don’t care. Drivers can see me from a mile away (maybe more) and I dare say most low-flying aircraft do a double take as they fly over me. I do have a slightly more elegant (if bright yellow with reflective strips can be classed as elegant) jacket, which is slightly fitted and therefore a bit more flattering, but to get to my phone I have to unzip the whole damn thing and the phone pocket also leaks if it’s raining. Not only is it important to be able to get to your phone in case of an emergency it is also vital to enable me to take those all important “between the ears” photos that I put on Fabetube. So I wear my builder’s coat most of the time as it has a lovely phone pocket tucked away under the storm flap. It is lined with lovely warm quilting and was sold to me at a Vintage Tractor Rally by a Pakistani Glaswegian gentleman, so there is a degree of sentimentality to the jacket as well.

To complete this stylish collection, I also have a wide reflective strip that my horse wears around his neck and a reflective strip that he wears on each leg. If it’s gloomy I also have flashing reflective strips and one that wraps around his tail and a bright yellow sheet that he wears underneath his saddle. I’m not saying that I like “Hi Viz” stuff but I also have a pair of yellow gloves with reflective strips on and a reflective band that I wear around my hat.

There’s no excuse these days for not wearing reflective gear as there is so much really good stuff on the market meaning that you don’t have to look as if you are on day release if you are willing to spend a few quid. You can buy a reflective tabard for £1 on the internet and for £4.95 you can even have your own wording printed on the back of it. (I wonder if “Slow Down for feck’s sake!” would be within the law?) Wearing a tabard might make you look even more of a muppet than me in my builder’s coat but at least you’d be seen.

I’ll keep my builder’s jacket until I find a more flattering jacket with a better phone pocket, but then I won’t want to get it dirty so I bet I’ll still be out riding looking like I’m on day release. I’ll give you a wave and a smile if you pass me. You’ll see me a mile off and to all of you who ease off the accelerator upon seeing someone on a horse – my most heartfelt thanks. We really do appreciate it.