‘Slow down or people will die’: Rider’s plea to drivers after car hits her horse
—A rider who was thrown into the road when a car hit her horse has written an “open letter” reminding drivers to think about the consequences of their actions.
Meg Worrell-Hart and her Irish sport horse Dave were almost back at her Lincolnshire yard on Saturday when she heard a car approaching from behind.
“It was going too fast so I asked him to slow down but he didn’t.
“Then Dave spooked and reared, straight into his path. He was too close and going too fast; the car hit Dave on his shoulder.
“I remember hearing a huge bang and I was thrown into the air, over the bonnet and into the road.”
Dave galloped towards home while Meg was left lying in the road.
“The driver was quite rude,” she said. “At first he was worried about whether I was ok but I was in hysterics, just worried about Dave, and thinking he was going to get hit by another car.
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“I just wanted to make sure Dave was ok but the driver was more worried about his car; he said: ‘Look what your horse has done to my car.’ It was ridiculous.”
Dave reached home safely and Meg thanked the “lovely ladies” in another car, who stopped drove her back to her yard.
It is possible the 12-year-old showjumper sustained a hairline fracture to his shoulder, Meg said, and he will go for X-rays if there is no improvement. But although he was colicky and unwilling to eat much on Monday (22 January), he was looking “brighter” the next day, after another veterinary visit.
Meg wants drivers to be more aware of horses on the roads.
“I cannot stress enough how important it is to pass horses wide and slow,” she wrote in her open letter on Facebook.
“Next time you see a horse and rider on the road please think. There is a person aboard that horse who has a family and is cared about. That horse is everything to them… he is their family, their friend, their teammate, their everything.
“That horse and rider on the road may be an inconvenience in your busy life but they are real people and animals who feel fear and pain who are loved and cared about and they deserve your respect.
“You have to slow down or people are going to die.”
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Meg estimated that the driver passed her at about 45mph.
“It was a 40mph road so I think he was speeding too,” she told H&H. “That isn’t acceptable.
“I’m sure he didn’t go out with the intention of hitting a horse but this isn’t a game, people could have died.”
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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.