Horse killed on my favourite hacking route

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It rained here last Thursday (when I think the accident happened)

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the accident occured on monday and weather conditions were perfect.
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Awwww I wasn't sure when it happened. We only got to know about it last Thursday so I wrongly assumed (accept my apologies) that it had just happened.

Even less excuse for the driver to hit them eh?
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I would be interested to know what the police's reaction would be if a girl had been knocked off her bike by this motorist. The fact that she wasn't exceeding the speed limit doesn't excuse the driver in my opinion.

The bit about Bart nuzzling his rider on the ground just made me cry.
 
Cannot see why the police won't pursue this. In a sense the horse saved the girl's life. If she had been on foot she would have been killed, and they would then have been obliged to take it seriously, yet in terms of the motorists actions, nothing would have changed. I agree- 60 is a maximum speed; you are still supposed to drive within your sight / stopping capabilities. True, you can just make an honest misjudgement when driving and end up causing an accident, but no-one should be speeding round these little narrow lanes.

Is there anything we can all do; lobby, complain, etc.? Toll rides are all very well, but we still have to go on the roads on foot or by bike as well as on a horse.

Poor, poor girl, having to come to terms with losing her horse in that way.
 
Orangehorse said
"For getting off the roads look at opening toll rides - www.tollrides.org.uk

This organisation was started by some local riders in Kent to improve their local hacking routes."

And how, pray, does one get TO the toll rides - magically levitate towards them above the surface, like some form of modern-day Pegasus?

And what happens when a more profitable recreational use of the land becomes available to the landowners? Will they say "oh no we're not interested in the money, let the riders continue ..." or will they say "right - toll rides closed, let's get on with organising the XXXXX activity!"

Toll rides cannot be the answer. More responsibility on the motorist's part can be. Moving towards strict liability on the part of the motorist, where vulnerable users are involved, would be real progress towards the safety of the large section of the community that makes up vulnerable users.
 
The police so often seem reluctant to prosecute when it comes to accidents with horses .... in this sort of case, if you can get a solicitor to take on the case on a no win/no fee basis, I think that a private prosecution can really bring it home to motorists, and hopefully hit them HARD in the pocket, as well as often creating some publicity in the local press - though none of this ever brings a much loved horse back
 
that is very sad, i dont understand why anyones drives so fast around country lanes-really annoys me, it seems to happen all to often, its so unnecessary, poor horse, lucky girl to escape too, idiotic driver
 
local farmers are the worst drivers in Barthomley, driving at great speed around blind bends, talking on mobiles, with the nields being no exception.
it was spoke about 12 months ago but no one could really be bothered to do anything about it.
a local resident a few years ago wrote to the council with no avail.
i also had a near miss with a farm vehicle and stopped hacking after that, roads are too dangerous for hacking out on now. i do feel for katy as bart was a lovely horse and his life shouldn't of ended so abrubtly.
 
I'm married to a farmer and I can assure you my fella doesn't ever drive his tractor with a mobile in his hand and it's not one of these Fastrac's either so isn't driven at great speeds. His dad doesn't own a mobile so won't use one on his tractor and our farm worker is the same.

There are some farmers along that way, contractors more so, who drive too fast, on mobiles of CB Radios, at nosily high revs in their new fangled tractors but I have never had a near miss with them on horse back or in my car. They are always courteous too and often stop their tractors. I have to beckon them on as Patches isn't at all scared of tractors but does get a bit wound up when they stop....she assumes something must be wrong if they don't keep coming. I wouldn't hack her out if she was nervous of farm machinery.

My biggest issue when I ride around there is how many of the riders don't wear High Viz. Hedge lined lanes and dark horses without any high viz on horse and rider are an accident waiting to happen. I've never found it unsafe to hack around those lanes No different to anywhere else I hack, including riding through Betley, "Tosh's lanes" in Audley and the Red Hall Lane hack that loops past Speeds Livery yard.
 
Oh my god how terrible. I don't ride on the roads anymore. I just hear to many horror stories like this and no matter how good a rider you are or how safe your Horse is it takes one careless driver and look what can happen.

I live on a hill and there is a really narrow VERY steep road down to the main road. It has 2 blind bends and is single track. This NUTTER goes down the hill every morning at about 40mph. One of these days he's going to meet someone going the other way and he won't be able to stop. It chills me to the bone as there is a riding school on the other side of the hill and sometimes people ride up my road. I just dread to think what would happen if he went down the hill when someone was riding up. I have to say I'd never ever ride on the roads where I live. I know some people have no choice though and something ought to be done.
 
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