With safety always front of mind when riding near or on country roads, a rider in England has invented a simple device to warn drivers before it’s too late. Called VisiWhip, it’s essentially a high visibility triangle that is attached to the end of your whip, and when carried, alerts drivers to you and your horse’s presence and ensures they provide a bit more space.
The inventor is equestrian Heather Muir, who hails from Swindon and she told the BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-67243240 that the device has already made a “huge difference” to how safe she feels riding on the road.
“Just occupying a little bit more road space by extending the whip out into the road and making the end of the dressage whip much more visible to drivers makes all the difference,” she told BBC News.
According to the article on the BBC website, last year there were 3,500 road incidents with horses in the UK, with an astounding 70 horses being killed.
The invention has also gotten the approval of Pass Wide and Slow, a 50K-member Facebook group that promotes driver and rider safety in the UK.
