Letter to local newspaper?

Shantara

Shantara

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How does this sound?

"Dear S.C.A.N readers

I feel I must try and make people more aware of horses and riders on the road.
I ride at a local stable in North Crawley, where I must ride along the roads to get to the bridleways. I have had several near misses with cars. I know most accidents and mishaps are down to lack of education and horse knowledge as I know no one wants to cause an accident. Luckily the horses I ride are well trained and very good in traffic.
However, all horses can be unpredictable, so a slow speed and plenty of room is very much appreciated.
That said, I must point out not all drivers behave badly, I have also had a lot of good experiences where drivers have seen my horse is in distress, stopped and turned off their engines until the panic is over.
I would also like to urge riders to make sure they are wearing hi-viz when riding on the road, in any weather, good visibility or not.

Drivers
• Pass wide and slow
• Don’t get too close behind the horse, it may kick out or become frightened
• Do not sound your horn or rev your engine
Riders
• Invest in some good quality High-Viz equipment for you and your horse
• Thank drivers for being courteous

Thank you for reading!"


Any hints or tips would be gratefully received :)
 
Suggest you say "most" of the horses you ride , as you contradict yourself later when you mention your horse being "in distress" ;)
Hopefully it will be published and if even one driver thinks a bit more when meeting a horse, and one rider goes and gets some good hi-viz, it will have served it's purpose.
 
Ah, thank you :) I hadn't picked up on that! I'll change that now.
Do you think I should also mention we sometimes have to take youngsters on the road to get them used to traffic?
 
Couple of tweaks to your letter,

"Dear S.C.A.N readers

With the roads becoming ever more busy, I'd like to highlight the difficulties experienced by horse riders on the roads in trying to keep safe and prevent accidents. I totally appreciate that horses on the roads are an inconvenience to motorists, but in order to reach bridleway routes, some road work is unavoidable.
I ride at a local stable in North Crawley and I have had several near misses with cars. I know most accidents and mishaps are down to lack of horse knowledge as I know no one wants to cause an accident. Luckily the horses I ride are well trained and very good in traffic.
However, all horses can be unpredictable, so a slow speed and plenty of room is very much appreciated.
That said, I must point out not all drivers behave badly, I have also had a lot of good experiences where drivers have seen my horse is in distress, stopped and turned off their engines until the panic is over.
I would also like to urge riders to make sure they are wearing hi-viz when riding on the road, in any weather, good visibility or not.

Drivers-
• Pass wide and slow
• Don’t get too close behind the horse, it may kick out or become frightened
• Do not sound your horn or rev your engine

Riders-
• Invest in some good quality High-Viz equipment for you and your horse.

• Thank drivers for being courteous

Thank you for reading!"
 
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