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Mounted police officers and British Horse Society (BHS) representatives will be offering advice on road safety around horses in the centre of Manchester this weekend.
The Dead Slow Road Safety Event, a joint initiative between the BHS and mouted police, will take place on Saturday (28 May) at Albert Square.
Police horses and their riders and BHS representatives will be present from 11am until 3pm.
In 2014 a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) mounted officer was involved in a road accident.
PC Wendy Townley and her horse, Steele, were hit by a car on Christmas Eve.
The pair (pictured below and top) have since made a full recovery and have inspired colleagues to help improve conditions for riders on the roads.
“It’s something we’ve been particularly affected by,” GMP mounted officer PC Cassandra Barratt told H&H.
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“There has been so many other near-misses that we wanted to take action.
“A lot of it is not through malice but through miseducation.”
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The event aims to educate riders and drivers on road safety. Demonstrations will be made, including showing the extent of a horse’s peripheral vision.
Officers will also inform riders how to report road incidents and near-misses.
Pamphlets will be given out to attendees as well as road safety stickers.
“It will be a big social event to educate both riders and drivers,” said PC Townley.
“Hopefully it will help a lot of riders.”
PC Townley added that Lancashire Constabulary and Cheshire Police have joined the initiative and other forces have shown interest.
She hopes further similar events will be run up and down the country.
“Once we’ve had the event on Saturday we will be going out to local riding schools and organising further awareness events,” she said.
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.