UK Gets Serious About Horses and Road Safety

A couple of new initiatives in the UK are taking aim at drivers to keep horses and riders safe. According to the BBC, police in Yorkshire have created Operation Gallop, that focuses on issues in the equestrian community including road safety to “educate road users about how to safely pass horses on the roads.”

The West Yorkshire Police announced that drivers seen blowing past horses and riders, either too fast or too close, will be targeted during a “national week of action.”

As part of Operation Gallop, drivers are being told to slow down to a maximum of 10 mph (15 kph) and allow a two-metre distance when passing a horse and rider. Drivers are also being asked to accelerate slowly once past the horse so as not to spook the animal.

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Another facet of Operation Gallop is to encourage horse owners to sign up for the police’s Horsewatch scheme, an anti-theft initiative that has seen solid results, with the number of horses reported stolen falling from 65 to seven in the 15 years since its introduction.

The horse and riders in Yorkshire aren’t the only ones across the pond who are getting some help educating drivers; the registered animal welfare charity Blue Cross is also raising awareness of road safety through its Code program. In the UK, horses and riders are considered “vulnerable road users” and require special consideration.

This is not news to us Canadians, who often have to ride on rural roads to access trails. All it takes is one yahoo behind the wheel who thinks it’s funny to honk or rev the engine to scare the horse and tragedy can happen. (Note for example this recent Ontario news report.)

For Suffolk, England equestrian Alyson Lock, the spotlight on driver safety didn’t come soon enough. She was out riding her horse Mylo down a narrow country lane when a speeding car spooked the horse, sending the scared animal into a deep ditch. Both were injured during the accident and the driver didn’t stop.

“It could have been a lot worse, because the ditch was at least nice and soft, but I think it was the fall… it was probably a four-foot [1.2m] fall into the ditch with six hundred pounds [272+kg] of horse on top of me,” Lock tells the BBC about what caused her to injure her hamstrings and Mylo to strain his back. While she has recovered and she and Mylo have returned to riding the country lanes, she takes extra care, ensuring she pulls him as far off the road as possible when a car passes by.

The suggestions made by Blue Cross read like common sense for drivers, including “pass wide and slow,” as is the case in Operation Gallop, and to lower the music volume and avoid honking.

Riders are encouraged to use proper hand signals so drivers know where you are heading. Be sure to wave and thank drivers who pass wide and slow to encourage them, and observe your horse and recognize when he or she is stressed and might need time to calm down – or even be hand-walked back to the stable.

All good lessons that drivers and riders should learn and abide by, whether they’re in the UK or Canada.