Sarah Litherland took the photos on New Year’s Eve. She told H&H she has often seen riders in the area, near the border with Scotland, hacking without high-vis gear, and often without hats.
“It really frustrates me,” she said.
“Of course, it’s up to every individual what they do but put it on for the horse’s sake if you don’t care about yourself, and it’s not just themselves they’re putting in danger, it’s drivers, and everyone else on the roads.”
Sarah said she knew the rider was there, as she had seen her ride past. But as it was after 3.30pm, and starting to get dark, both horse and rider are almost invisible.
“It had started to snow too, which made it even worse,” she said. “I thought ‘what’s going through her mind?’ How do you expect drivers to slow down if they can’t see you? It’s hard to believe people do it. If you’re on a horse on the road, you should have high-vis on.”
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Sarah believes not wearing the right gear sets a bad example to younger riders.
“There are a lot of young people locally who don’t wear high-vis; they see other people doing it and think it’s ok but it’s not,” she said.
“When I’m out, I’ll have a big high-vis rug and my full jacket, and sometimes I put on my high-vis waterproof trousers too; I probably look stupid but I don’t care. He’s a big 17hh and if he hits a car, there won’t be much left.
“If sharing these pictures makes one person think about wearing high-vis, it’s worth it.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
