A rider was shaken and her horse frightened when a delivery driver “sped” past, “a millimetre” from her stirrup.
East Sussex-based Zoe Burt was hacking her 17-year-old Connemara, Molly, when the incident took place.
Zoe was overtaking parked cars on Pevensey Park Road in Westham, East Sussex, when she heard a vehicle approaching from behind.
She turned and saw a delivery van “doing about 60mph” in a 30mph area.
“He came straight past us a millimetre from my stirrup,” Zoe told H&H.
“Molly shied away from the van and stumbled up the grass verge on to her knees. Luckily she’s a saint, it could have been a lot worse.
“The driver slammed on his brakes a few meters further along the road for a delivery and threw a parcel at someone’s door.
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“I called out to him but he didn’t speak a word of English. I tried my best with the slow down hand signal and pointed at the speed limit sign but he just got back in his van and shot off round a bend.
“He then realised he’d taken a wrong turning, reversed out of the road and flew off.”
Zoe, who was wearing high vis gear, got off and checked Molly.
“Luckily she is ok. I just stood there in shock about what had happened,” she said.
One pony was found dead on site and three more had to be put down, two as they were so
“It’s a busy area with a lot of riders in the area. I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“I’d hate for the driver to be in the area again and something else to happen.
“Molly might be good in traffic but another horse might not be.”
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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.
